dirtyrome

this morning i was walking down a capitol hill alley from my friends house to my car. it was a gloomy beyond gloomy morning for denver and that mixed with the dirty streets of capitol hill made me feel like i was in rome again. and i don't mean dirty in a gross-you-out kinda of a way, or anything against capitol hill, more that the patina of it's walls, sidewalks and streets have aged and been used well enough to give off this feeling. a streets of italy feeling. it is no secret that rome is a dirty city. i was appalled when i first got there and startled by the truth when a roman friend of ours mentioned that graffiti was the wallpaper of the city. i'd like to give romans the benefit of the doubt that they have been occupying this city for their 2,763rd year and it's no doubt well broken in.

a few unglamorous shots of rome that i love:

our local lunch market: campo de fiori

a roman resident


like i said, wallpaper.


an appropriately unkempt jollypower gym


a gypsy with a baby that stole my tears


wet clothes in Trastevere

yesdenver

i read this off of a site i stumbled upon the other day: Urbanophile

He’s very impressed:

I spent the past few days at a conference in Denver, Colorado. And, I’ll tell you, that city impressed the heck out of me. It’s a medium-sized city (just under 600,000 residents), and you can walk across its downtown in about twenty minutes. While the scale is much smaller than my hometown of Philadelphia, Denver seemed to be doing things other cities are only dreaming of.

Denver has a beautiful and efficient light-rail and bus system. The 16th Street pedestrian mall is vibrant, beautiful, and well-used. A free (!) two-way bus system runs every few minutes to take passengers across the fifteen blocks of stores, restaurant, entertainment, benches, trees, lamps, and chess tables. They also have bike sharing!

Cherry Creek and the Platte River run along the west side of the downtown with an extraordinary set of walking and biking trails. At the confluence of the creek and river, one encounters beautiful Commons Park and a stunning vista of the skyline. The gorgeous Millennium Bridge takes pedestrians from Commons Park to the pedestrian mall. The scenery is beautiful, all the while, surrounded by the Rockies.

The architecture definitely impresses. I am not usually a Daniel Liebeskind fan, but his Denver Art Museum is stunning. The new, edgy buildings of the civic center mix well with the historic architecture of the state capitol and other older government buildings. The Denver Convention Center is also a pretty exciting building (yes, that’s a big blue bear pushing against the wall).

Everywhere I looked there was major public art. This is a city that clearly cares about creating a beautiful place for its citizens and visitors. Meanwhile, a host of new condo and apartment buildings are filling in the landscape, bringing more residents downtown.

some things stated i agree whole heartily with and others i struggle to accept. thank you for your rave on denver, as i do just love this city.

take itback now

another thanksgiving. another trip to albuquerque. in case you were unsure, that's in new mexico, which is one of the 50 states. believe it or not, more than one person on my account has been perplexed when informed that one does not need a passport to get into new mexico territory. travel people, travel. Geo-safari. u.s. history. map of the united states. all of these are great resources to understanding such things. my personal favorite being the Geo-safari. i freakin loved this gadget when i was in elementary school and what a better toy than one that teaches as you play with it. to this day things that i have learned from my Geo-safari have come into motion at some crucial times, like bar trivia the other week. countless state capitols, state nicknames, location of states and the list goes on. not sure where i was going with this, but just wanted to say out loud that Geo-safari was one sweet toy.

well, albuquerque was great. a lot of these good things, a few of those good things, unexpected wonderful things all makes for a nice thanksgiving break. we took a day trip to sante fe, which is probably one of my most favorite hidden cities and is the united state's oldest capitol city but Geo-safari didn't teach me that tid-bit. sante fe boasts huge amounts of culture it's intoxicating. the food is traditionally southwestern and smothered in green chile, or you can get red chile, or even go for a combo of both, which is called christmas for obvious reasons. the churches are on axis, the city takes great pride in local art and cherishes the days of georgia o'keeffe. what is it about a place that keeps you coming back for more? it is the things that are constant and never see change or the things that are always evolving and the moving parts that helps make up the whole?

i think i wanna go back to rome.

but that might be selfish. there are so many other places to go that deserve attention and admiring. i'm confused by the people who travel to a certain destination year in and year out. never considering another option for the eyes and soul. i'm assuming it fills a part of them with the longing of familiarity.

skiingneedspeople

yesterday was the first day to ski for the season. rather early if you ask any local, though no complaints here on that. i need all the practice i can get. we got picked up early and headed for Keystone, one of five mountains that we are able to ski at endlessly for the winter.

so, as i was steeping my green tea this morning i nonchalantly noted to someone at work who had asked about my weekend that i went skiing yesterday. no big deal, just a light response. soon after i realized, what a great way to fill a sunday morning and afternoon. up early, drive off into the mountains, locate some snowy hill, elevate ourselves on a whole new kind of public transportation, objectively fly down and try not to die. good news is i didn't die or launch myself over the edge, hip hip hooray. i probably should have gotten out of control at least once and had a tumultuous fall. maybe next time.

it's funny if you think about the whole process of skiing. and just to clarify: skiing also means snowboarding. it's just silly to write out both and since skiing is an older pastime than snowboarding it thus gets the privilege of being used. maybe we could make up a new word, our few options would be skiboarding or snowing [um,no] or i guess boardski. i kinda like boardski, but it sounds more like a frat boys nickname. well, you get the picture. oh gosh! wait a hot second, i did see one dangerous soul going down the slick mountains on a skateboard. no joke, this boy was on a skateboard minus the wheels and boots not even strapped in. we can call that snowskating or deathskating. anyways, back to the matter at hand, skiing. tons of people come, pile on too many clothes and entertain themselves by making a constant loop up and down the mountain. i could probably say that basketball is about a silly of a sport as it gets, or football, or even tennis even though tennis is a huge part of my childhood, most of these sports all have the same thing in common. it is all about containment and people are really trying to get after each other whether by physical beating or nailing balls at the other. kinda fun, if that's what you're into. skiing is not about any of that stuff. one of the beautiful things about skiing is that a mass of people are attempting to conquer the mountain and the natural conditions that she emits. helping each other out with technique, skillz, balance, an understanding and so on. skiing needs people, the mountain is activated when people are blazing down it, and no one would want to ski for more than 20 minutes all by themselves. so is this just a theme "to see and be seen"? not quite sure, but i do know that this great activity operates with a community of people, and all are welcome.
some words to live by when in any given week [you or i] might be climbing, playing soccer, running or skiing, understand that "the human body does not wear out with use. on the contrary, it wears down when it is not used."

don'trush
[wow, wrote this a while ago and forgot to hit 'publish'.welp, what can you do? can't delete it. ]

2post1day. such a rarity.

fast track is a term i've head in college counselor's offices and quite frankly i'm not a fan. this directly correlates with adventuring. you just can't rush these things. unless of course there is no other way. like, if you are going to college on the coast of california and you come to find out your city will soon be floating away into the pacific, then you best be gettin' things done. fast. alright, that is a bit extreme but the sentiment it the same. there is no need to push the time where we are engaging with nature. it's not like a hit list of things to accomplish when you are a mega-tourist for the weekend in boston.

horseshoe

denver international airport is in a bad location.
arkansas was nothing less than wonderful.
flying is fun when you have a dave.
flying is fun when you have drink vouchers.
fayetteville is home of the razorbacks and we just beat a&m.
fayetteville feels like home.
rick's bakery makes my tummy happy.
horseshoe canyon ranch is a hidden gem in the ozarks.
climbing lets you enjoy god's beauty.
climbing for 24 hours is no easy feat.
climbing for 24 hours strictly on sandstone makes your fingers/hands/palms feel like they're on fire.

but you will recover and eventually climb again.



i stole this picture of horseshoe.

onwardtosteamboat

a place i've mentioned before annnd abbbsolutely adore [low-al, that's for you] is steamboat springs. and it is only a breathtaking three hours drive from denver, assuming your jetta can make it up the passes. mine just cleared. whew!

so we loaded up some friends, a few bikes and were off into the night. what is it about road tripping at night that makes waking up at your destination so much more of an excitement? well, duh that's easy, it's because you can't see what's around until the sun shines upon it the next morn. having this feeling while being surrounded by mountains makes it to my top five reasons to wake up in the morning. right up there with christmas tree festivities, a packed day of climbing and perhaps french toast. you just never know what you are going to get, but you can bet it's going to be good. like perchance i will get a Huffy, or i'll lead a great pitch, maybe even put bananas in my french toast. there is always a twist of fate when it comes to waking up early and crossing that over unknown expectations. well, not sure there is quite a thing as unknown expectations. that is a horrible contradiction. isn't an expectation something you expect or assume to happen? so how could it be unknown, if you are knowing of it? obviously i'm not doing much mental editing here. i guess it would be more true to say i had expectations of undergoing a supreme time and wasn't exactly sure how that was going to be achieved.

no matter what difficulty trail you ride as long as it posses some level of danger and you act dangerously, mountain biking is the ultimate thrill. i guess you could say the same about skiing since a lot of ski runs are transformed into mtn. bike trails in the winter with thanks to the change of seasons. but i'm still not completely convinced. check back if i survive this winter's ski season. so we located a great "beginner" trail just out the back door of our place and began to snake our way up and down, though mostly up, into the routt national forest. the tall grasses sweeping at our sides and the aspen's yellow leaves shining from above, it was a touch magical. the trail was so nice, i did it twice.
wait a sec. i think i stole that from newyork newyork.

welp, no digital camera + no disposal camera = no pictures.

lumpyridge
it's friday; we do haiku.

estes park locals
new sights of rocky mountain
death to the approach

shit, don't you deck now
twin owls are a lovely sight
one-hundred foot crack

[how does the rule go with contractions? don't = 1 syllable, while do+not = 2 syllable]

augustair

i can't help but believe that nostalgia's thick as the august air. well, maybe the august air in texas and not so much colorado. nonetheless, something about the combination of a dense draft and the sweltering heat gets down to our core that evokes this nostalgia. which ever it may be, the most insane smallest of details come to the forefront of my mind and i have no idea why.
the sound the boardwalk made when my friends and i ran up to the rotating spinney ride at fiesta texas.
the cold concrete on my feet when i walk outside onto the patio at my grandma's house on a winter day in albuquerque
the crunching leaves under my shoes as i waltz out of studio on a friday afternoon to a deserted campus.

i drift off to reminisce and are amazed at the minute things that consume my head. it simply amazes me. this past weekend i went home to san antonio and it, for obvious reasons, couldn't have come at a more precise time. i talked and laughed with great friends, danced in my mom's new house, swam in a pool for the first time this summer, and attended church with david robinson. for so many reasons i couldn't live in san antonio, though the city fills a part of me that reaches the spots only nostalgia sees, and that's something to speak of.

yes, it's the alamo and yes i've only been there once. sad, yes i know.

suchbeauty


...and the wildflowers are coming up everywhere—lupine and wild iris and Shasta daisy and a dozen others. The aspens have their heart-shaped leaves again, trembling in the slightest breeze. Massive thunderclouds are rolling in, bringing with them the glorious sunsets they magnify. The earth in summer is brimming with beauty, beauty of such magnificence and variety and unembarrassed lavishness, ripe beauty, lush beauty, beauty given to us with such generosity and abundance it is almost scandalous.

i stumbled upon this description of our wet colorado spring and its astounding aftermath. i want to understand that beauty is more than: being essential to god; it is the essence of god.