Blogging

It appears that a large number of people only blog on weekdays.  I struggle for inspiration and time on the weekdays.  They must be blogging from work, about work or instead of work.  Me, I've got too much work to be able to do that.

Likewise, I get the feeling that weekends for a lot of people are computer free zones.  For me, the weekend is a great opportunity to catch up on all the 'net stuff that I've had to ignore during the week.

We've been focusing on the positive here so in that vein, I'll share with you a recent internet find, one of those guys who only posts on the weekdays, 1000 Awesome Things.  He's got some fun insights and since he's only on #521, it'll keep you occupied going backward and forward.

Off-season hours

The following is a list provided by the Aspen Chamber Resort Association (which I poached from the Aspen Daily News) that details which restaurants and bars that are open and closed for the spring off-season.   

39 Degrees Lounge at Sky Hotel    Closed April 12-May 30
Ajax Tavern    Open
Asie    Open, no lunch Saturdays and Sundays
Aspen Brewery    Open
Bad Billy’s     Open
Bentley’s    Open
Big Wrap    Closed April 24-May 16 (Enjoy the beach, Babs!)
Boogie’s Diner    Open, closed one week in May
Brexi    Closed April 12-May10
Brunelleschi’s Dome Pizza    Open
Butcher’s Block    Open, closed Mother’s Day
Cache Cache    Closed April 10 -May 27
Campo de Fiori    Open
Cantina    Closed April 12 - 19
Caribou Club    Closed April 11-June 10
Domino’s    Open
Double Dog Pub    Closed permanently (Such a loss!)
Elevation    Open
Ellina    Closed until the first week of June
Elkhorn Bar and Grill    Closed April 5-June
Escape at Explorer    Open for lunch only
Frank Thirion French Pastry Café    Open
Garnish Café at Aspen Club    Closed April 10 to end of May
Gisella    Closed April 25 - May 27
Grape Bar    ?
Hickory House    
Open, closed Monday and Tuesday
Highlands Pizza Co.    
Open Thursday through Sunday. Open 7 days/week by May 15
Hunter Bar    Open
Il Mulino    Open Tuesday through Saturday
Ink Coffee    Open
Jacob’s Corner Hotel Jerome    Closed April 19 -May 6
J Bar at the Hotel Jerome    Closed April 19 -May 6
Jimmy’s    Open
Johnny McGuire’s Deli    Open
Jour De Fete    Open
Kenichi    Open
Krabloonik    Closed April 11-mid June
L’Hostaria    Closed Sunday and Monday
La Palapa    Closed April 12-mid May
Little Annie’s    Open
Little Nell (Montagna)    
Closed April 12-May 20, begin serving breakfast only April 30
Little Ollie’s    Open
Louis’ Swiss Pastry    Open
Lulu Wilson    
Open, closed Sundays and Mondays
Main Street Bakery & Café    
Closed last week of April, first week of May
Matsuhisa    Closed April 11-12
Mezzaluna    Open, closed Sunday’s in May
Mustang    Closed Sunday and Monday
N9NE Steakhouse    
Open Tuesday through Saturday in April; May ?
New York Pizza    Open
Pacifica    Closed April 4 to early June
Paradise Bakery    Open
Parallell 15    Open
Peaches    Open, closed Sundays
Pine Creek Cookhouse    Closed April 5-mid June
Pinons    Closed April 11-June 4
Plato’s at Aspen Meadows    Closed April 12 -May 3
Poppycocks    Open
Red Mountain Grill     Open
Rustique    Open, closed Sunday and Monday
Sabra’s Deli    
Open, closed Sundays until mid-May
Sage    Open with bar menu only
Social    Closed April 11-May 27
Specialty Foods of Aspen    Closed Sundays April and May
Starbucks    Open (not what the barista at Starbucks told me)
Steak Pit    Closed permanently (so sad)
Su Casa    
Closed Sunday and Monday in April, then May 2-20
Syzygy    Closed April 4 -June 11
Takah Sushi    Closed April 11-May 27 (I already have reservations for May 29!)
Taster’s    Open
The Restaurant at the St. Regis    
Open Thursday through Sunday
Toppers    Closed permanently (I'll miss their mushroom pizza)
Ute City    Open
Victoria’s Espresso & Wine Bar    Open (but when will they be serving wine again?)
Wienerstube    
Open breakfast and lunch daily; dinner Wednesday through Saturday
Wild Fig    
Open, closed Sundays and Mondays
Willow Creek Bistro at Aspen Highlands    
Closed April 4 for dinner until first week of June
Woody Creek Tavern    Open
Zane’s Tavern    Closed April 13-20
Zocalito    Open

Effect

As I get older, I come across random examples of the lasting impact people can have on each other, often with regards to the most seemingly insignificant things.  We all, often unintentionally, leave our marks, sometimes in the most unexpected ways.  I realize that, for many, this is hardly news but I've been ruminating on it lately.

Yesterday morning, when reminded to brush her teeth, Rachel made a special trip upstairs to my bathroom because she likes my toothpaste better.  This is a relatively new development.  For years, I've had to buy her her own toothpaste because she didn't want to use mine.  My toothpaste?  I started using it 20 years ago, having been introduced to it by her father when he and I were dating.  Do you think he had any clue at that point that twenty years later, his own daughter would be using the same brand having arrived at it in this roundabout way?

It goes both ways too.  One of my mother's mainstay dishes when I was growing up was ground beef and gravy.  Imagine spaghetti but with macaroni instead of spaghetti and mushroom gravy instead of tomato sauce.  Easy and yummy.  It's now one of Rachel's favorite meals.  I introduced Rachel's dad to my childhood meal some twenty years ago and now Rachel reports that it's part of her step-mother's repetoire.  Did my mom ever imagine?

Growing up, every Thanksgiving, we made Pumpkin Spice Cake.  I then introduced my co-workers here in Colorado to it.  One of my co-workers, who has since moved out of the area, particularly liked the recipe and adopted it as one of her staples. Who knows where it's going from there.

Rachel likes Popeye's biscuits because of one of my college boyfriends who she's never met.

Steve knows who Kate Bush is because of Jessica, the girl who lived next door to me in college in Leonard Hall at American University.

Not only do we leave lasting marks on those whose lives we pass through but often they pass those effects on to others.  Makes me wonder what other unintended effects I'm carrying around with me.  What other things that are fully integrated into my day to day life are the result of people who have passed through my life and the people who have passed through theirs?

Freaky, man.

This week's PostSecret favorite

My new car - Not

I had been playing with the idea of replacing my 12 year old car . . .

until I got Rachel's financial aid award letter from Columbia College Chicago which informed me that I've been awarded the opportunity to purchase the equivalent of a new car every year for the next 4 years.

But, hey, at least the interest rate on the college loans is fixed at the low rate of 7.9%.

For a new car, I'd only have to pay, what, 0% interest?

What is that?

I'm about to expose, yet again, my lack of cred.

Unavoidable really, as I've basically never been cool.  Too nerdy to be cool.

Twice in the last 12 hours, I've seen a guy on TV lick the first two fingers of his hand and then smooth his eyebrows.  Last night, it was Finn on Glee and this morning, Jon Stewart whilst interviewing John O'Hara on Tuesday night's Daily Show.

Twice in 12 hours?  Now, I'm intrigued.  Is this some cultural reference to which I'm completely oblivious?  So I google it.

And, best that I can find, after admittedly superficial research, is that it dates back at least to Ian Ziering on 90210:

lelio

2006-06-01 01:28:04 AM

The proper way to lick one's eyebrows was shown by Steve on 90210. To do it you
* make the "hook-em" sign with your right hand
* touch the insides of those fingers to your tongue
* put your fingers up to your eyebrows closest to your nose
* push your hand to your face, splaying out your fingers and spreading the saliva

/ the more you know

I did also discover that, according to at least one source, licking your pinky and brushing it across your eyebrow in Lebanon indicates that you're a homosexual.

I'm still thinking that I'm missing something . . .

I would have replaced it.

I'm thankful for bags with tags.

A week ago when Rachel left for her Experiential Education trip, someone told her to put a name tag on her carry on bag. A bit of overkill, I thought but given Rachel's distractability, probably a good idea. Hah! Little did I know. In this case, it wasn't Rachel's distractability we had to worry about.

When we met Rachel at the train on Saturday, it was a rather chaotic scene. She jumped off the train, came and gave us all hugs, handed me her bag (yes, I said, handed me her bag) and dove into the chaos of unloading all the bikes and duffel bags from the luggage car of the train. In the process of unboxing her bike, I set her bag down, right there, right where I couldn't miss it, right where I wouldn't forget it.

We ran an errand in Glenwood, drove the 45 miles back to Aspen, unloaded the car and Rachel asked me for her bag. The one with her book and her pretzels and . . . her iPod. The one I had left sitting on the train platform 45 miles away.

"Mom! How could you?! I made it the whole trip without losing anything! Someone's going to steal it!"

Well, nothing we could do about it at that point, except wait until school on Monday and hope that one of the teachers noticed it, picked it up and rescued it.

Which, thanks to the name tag, is exactly what happened. Phew!

But, I would have replaced her iPod, the one she bought with her own money. If I had had to. I'm sure glad I didn't have to.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Boomerang

In the late 70s, just before a ski trip to Aspen, my Rossignol skis were stolen out of our garage in Illinois.  My parents replaced the stolen skis for me with a pair of Dynastar 195 cm Dynasofts.  I skied those skis for almost 20 years.

When I moved to Aspen in 1999, I immediately replaced my outdated skis with a pair of the newfangled "parabolic" skis.  The Dynastars languished in the gear shed for a while, finally making their way to the dumpster 7 or 8 years ago.

Fast forward to this past Sunday.  I'm hanging out at the Aspen Highlands Closing Day Party taking in the crazy scene.  All sorts of people in costumes and crazy get ups.  I keep seeing one girl with a shot ski wandering around.

A shot ski?  That's a ski with a number of shot glasses attached to it.  The idea is that you line people up and they all simultaneously do shots by tipping the ski.  

About the fourth or fifth time I see the girl with the shot ski, I take a good look at the ski.  I casually mention to my friend that I used to ski a ski just like that one.  Mine was about that long but it had my name on it (that's what we did in Illinois when we bought skis.  I got the stolen Rossignols back because of just that little detail).  So I wander closer to the girl with the shot ski and . . .

It's got my name on it.  I say to the girl, "That's my old ski."  And after carding me (no lie), calling all her friends over, taking pictures and figuring out where the ski has been for the past many years (in the Aspen Valley Ski & Snowboard Club gear room), she generously gave it to me. (Not at all what I expected.)

Mom & Dad, aren't you thrilled to see what's become of the ski you bought me?

Just had to share

Happy Birthday, Mom!  I love you! (I am also a big fan of your genes.)  :-P Love, Rachel Bielinski (Darling Daughter)

Mome,

Hey, look up! I just spelled Mom wrong.  Anyway . . . after living with Clark for 5 months and visiting a house with 5 cats, you would appreciate this card.  Plus, it's your day,  you are entitled to, you know, presents and pampering and stuff (I am sure Prince Rupert would agree).  Speaking of which, for a cat he has remarkable puppy dog eyes.  Thank you for all the fun opportunities you give me.  I love you (more than I love TV. *gasp* I know you thought that was impossible, right?)  Just so you know, you are not allowed to die.  I love you too much.  Love, Rachel <3

Mom,

Although I have not been through some of these situations yet, the same sentiment applies.  You are always there for me, no matter what I do, which is good 'cause I can be really really annoying.  You always give me what I need, even and especially when what I want and what I need are 2 different things.  You have taught me so much.  I am an independent self-sufficient person because that's what you showed  by example.  I love being around you (even if you do insult my music) and I can never wait to get home and tell you about my day or the new thing I am excited about.  On that note, thank  you for listening to me babble about movies and TV and supporting my dreams.  You have always done that, made me feel that I could do anything if I worked hard enough.  You made me feel safe because you have been the one constant throughout my life.  I have never had fear that you were going to accept me, no matter what.  We are so different.  You are linear, logical and organized, whereas I am random, spastic and saying my room looks like a nuke went off is putting it nicely.  But even when I am driving you crazy, you love me and I know it.  We have a relationship that Rory and Lorelai would envy and I am so glad.  On days when the world is against me, you are on my side and that means the world.  I love the hugs you give and cuddling with you.  I love making you laugh and smile.  I love that you love me and all my glaring faults.  But most of all, I love you, all of you: your joy about weird things like the census, how good you are at answering the phone like nothing is wrong, your long brown hair, your style, your headaches and hoarding tendencies, I love it all.  I have friends who hate their mothers but they love you.  You are the best mom ever and so good to me.  I want to wish you a happy birthday and inform you that you are not allowed to die.  Without you, I would fall apart, I can't even imagine that.  Happy Birthday!!   I hope you had a great day and know there are many more to come.  Love, Rachel