In person

We were walking around town this morning after watching the morning session of the World Cup races when we decided to pop into Durrance Sports on the Cooper Mall.

It turns out that they actually had a pair of the AHSP Folsom Custom Skis with Steve's graphics.

So we had a little photo op.

Bragging

I hope you don't mind but I'm going to brag for a bit here.

See this super cool ski?

Well, the graphics were designed by none other than my very own husband.

The ski is the Aspen Highlands Ski Patrol custom ski by Folsom Custom Skis out of Boulder, Colorado.  These skis will be built with a customized flex for the patrollers and an AHSP signature topsheet.

 So cool.

Not only that but today (thanks to our observant friend, Jill) we learned that the skis are featured in Aspen Magazine's Holiday 2009 issue.  There they are, pictured on page 38 in the magazine's Insider section. 

Super cool.

What a talented guy!

Maybe I'll keep him . . .

Twitter

As usual, I'm late to the game but I'm making up for it with a vengeance

I checked Twitter out a while ago (December 13, 2008) and didn't quite get it.  A few of my friends were on Twitter but nobody seemed to be doing much of anything.

Didn't check back again until August 24, 2009.  Still, just didn't get it.

But then, I found Twitterberry.  Suddenly, I could tweet to and from my Blackberry.  Very cool.  Then I started following HuffingtonPost, the New York Times and Newsweek.  Breaking news came streaming into my Blackberry.  I was able to follow the Fort Hood news while sitting in the airport.

And then, I discovered Seesmic.  Now, on my desktop, I get my Facebook and Twitter feeds all in one place.  Not only that but I can follow hash topics in real time too.  All in one place.

Recently, I started following #hcr or health care reform tweets and this weekend, with the Senate debate and vote on health care reform, it all exploded.  Now, I just can't shut up.

Oh, I'm still selective on what I say and to whom I respond   I've typed many a reply that I've then canceled.  But I tweeted 32 times between December 13, 2008 and November 20, 2009 and I've tweeted 28 times in the last two days.

Yikes.

Tomorrow's PostSecret favorite

since they're posted at midnight eastern time, sometimes I get to see them before I go to bed on Saturday.

Sold out

I say it often but we're spoiled in Aspen, especially when it comes to seeing movies.  There were only a handful of people in the audience for the last two movies that I saw at the Isis, Men Who Stare at Goats and Disney's A Christmas Carol and that's the norm.  Although sometimes our selection is rather limited, we get the experience of the big screen without all the annoyances of crowded theaters.

Not tonight.

I knew that with New Moon premiering, there would be sell-outs at the Isis but I didn't think that the Blind Side would also be in that category.  What I didn't bank on was that the entire Aspen High School football team would be in attendance.  They're hosting a state high school playoff tomorrow so had their entire evening scheduled for them by the coach and one event on their schedule was to see The Blind Side.

And yet, the audience was fairly well behaved.  The people behind us moved around a bit more than I liked and there were a couple of talkers but overall, not much to complain about.  I do have to say that I think the heating/cooling system is unused to so many bodies in one place as it was uncomfortably toasty in the theater by the end of the movie.

Oh, and the movie?  Quite good. 

Wings of Defeat

Rachel brought this DVD home to watch tonight for homework or more accurately, as a make up for the IB history class she missed last Monday when we were in Chicago.

A documentary done by a Japanese American born in New York whose uncle was a Kamikaze pilot who survived World War II, Wings of Defeat is a thoughtful, almost peaceful dissection of the oft-misunderstood and demonized Tokkotai which is what the Kamikazes called themselves.  The film features former Japanese pilots telling their stories of becoming Tokkotai, fighting as Tokkotai and most surprisingly, especially to themselves, surviving the war.  Also included are interviews with survivors of the USS Drexler, a destroyer sunk by a Kamikaze attack.

In English and Japanese with English subtitles depending on who's being interviewed, Wings of Defeat puts a sympathetic human face on young boys who were simply doing their duty as they understood it, even after they understood the futility of it.

Getting Motivated

What with this time of year's incredibly short days, it seems like it's always dark whenever I'm not at work.

I walk to work when the sun has barely shown its face and I leave work when it's already gone to bed.

I also have a habit of getting way too sucked into work while I'm there, to the point that I find it basically impossible to even muster the energy to get out during lunch time or at any point during the day.  Once I'm at work, I'm at work and I rarely venture out.

This means that during this time of year, my life is led in the dark.

In an attempt to alleviate this state of darkness, today, I took Steve's Nikon D40x SLR to work with me, hoping that it might entice me to leave my office during the daylight hours to take some photos for my other blog, Aspen Daily Photo.

No such luck but between the camera and a timely article in the Aspen Times, I was inspired to stop on the way home (or more accurately, go out of my way) to photograph the holiday window display at the Louis Vuitton store.  I even made Steve act as my model by asking him to stroll through my photo to add the human element.

At least this way, I made a stop before going straight home from work and throwing on my comfy clothes . . .

Disney's A Christmas Carol

A new holiday classic?

Hard to say.

Maybe for the first time viewer.

It was visually engaging but suffered from familiarity.  I kept trying to watch it through fresh eyes and could see where it might have some staying power.

It was also odd watching it so early in the season.  Whatever Disney's rationale was for releasing it so early, it just made me wonder.

This week's PostSecret favorite

Doesn't every office have one of these?

This week's PostSecret favorite

Chicago

We're in Chicago for the Columbia College Chicago Open House.  It was pretty incredible.  It's a school of 12,000 and there were 8000 people at the Open House.  They had two Welcome Sessions and, at least for the one we attended, they filled up the 4000 seat Auditorium Theater.  We then attended break out sessions in various buildings and departments.  It was a gorgeous fall day in the 60s so when we were finished with the Open House (and watching a wrecking ball doing its work), Steve and I stayed downtown to explore.

We walked along the lakefront and through Millenium Park, then headed up Michigan Avenue which was packed.  Seems like everyone decided to take advantage of the beautiful weather.  We were going to go up to the Signature Room in the John Hancock Building but the line was a deterrent.

Instead we headed up Rush Street, stopping at Butch McGuire's for a drink and to scope out the Xmas decorations, after which we headed back down to Ra Sushi for dinner.  Very tasty.

We then hustled on foot back down to Union Station and missed our train by 2 minutes.  Ugh.  Since the next train wasn't for 2 hours, at Mom's suggestion, we walked back to the subway.  Our ride to Howard was punctuated with the theater of the streets, a yelling match between a racist white ass and two loud attitudinal black girls.  The rest of the crowded late night subway car looked on in skeptical amusement.

Dad was a knight in shining armor, coming out after midnight to pick us up at the Linden Ave Station in Evanston.

Today's PostSecret Favorite

A beautiful day for a drive

I headed to Crested Butte today to pick up my traveling man.  It was a beautiful sunny day, the first after the snow so there were still lots of snow glistening on the trees.  Kebler Pass was snow packed and slick so slow going which made for more time to take in the scenery.

Fun time in the Butte for Halloween.  We threw together some costumes, more like just outrageous outfits and hit LoBar for sushi and Crack Fries,  then on to the Timberline, the Wine Bar, and Kacheever's.

This Is It

This Is It isn't it.  (How clever am I?)

I wanted to see it because, although I never considered myself a Michael Jackson fan, I did grow up with his music and  certainly enjoyed a lot of it.

The movie spoke to that nostalgia in that did make me want to listen to Michael's old standards and see some of the old videos.  It was interesting to see the process behind putting together a concert extravaganza.

But it was too long, Michael's voice was too ragged, and the cinematography too obviously not intended for a full length major motion picture.

To my mind, the execs at Sony Pictures are delusional if they think it's Oscar worthy.

But what do I know?

Waiting for a phone call

If I've done the math correctly, Steve's supposed to have taken off the river today.  A 21 day trip that starts on the 9th ends on the 29th, right?

So, today would have entailed getting up, breaking down camp for the last time, rigging the boats, floating 5 or so miles, derigging the boats, shuttling 22 miles on a dirt road to Peach Springs and then shuttling an additional 2 hours to Flagstaff.

Hmmmm.

June 20, 2005

Last river journal entry (at least for the Grand.  We're not even going to talk about the Middle Finger, I mean, Middle Fork):

Monday, June 20, 2005

Camping at Rm 6255, Thunderbird Lodge, South Rim. 

Wasn't sure we were going to get here.  This morning went smoothly.  When Steve and I got up at 5:36 am, almost everyone else was already up.  We got rigged and on the water early.  It reminded both Steve and me of all those early morning floats on our last trip.  It was very nice.  We saw a bunch of wildlife because we were out so early.

The whole derigging/shuttle process went well although it was ghastly hot.  We headed out of Peach Springs at ~1 pm.  We stopped in Seligman at Delgadillo's Snow Cap and Steve got a shave and haircut from Angel.  The food at the Snow Cap really is not very good but it's such an institution we have to stop.

Heading into Williams, the discharge battery light went on.  Turns out the alternator is shot.  Hung around Williams for a couple of hours, figuring that out and charging the battery while we watched a building in the historic district burn.  Right next to the Red Garter Bed and Bakery.

Finally made it to the South Rim at about 7 pm.  We had an awesome dinner at the El Tovar.  Preston from New Mexico took great care of us.

We have to go back to Williams tomorrow am to get the alternator replaced.  Don't know when we'll get back to Aspen.

May 2, 2001 and June 19, 2005

More river journal (almost done!):

Wednesday, May 2, 2001

Last night.  Mixed emotions.  Sad for it to be over but a little anxious for a shower.

Camping at 220 tonight.  Nice camp but terrifically windy tonight.  Good day.  Cloudy and cool with a strong tail wind.  We made 18 miles in less than 4 hours, then had a long afternoon to relax and hike.  Although my feet are still tender, I hiked up the 220 canyon and even climbed a dry waterfall.  Beautiful polished conglomerate.

Rapids today wree good.  205 and 217 had large haystacks so they were roller coaster rides.  Steve had good lines in all three rapids today.  We did see an overturned raft just after 209.

Last night we camped at 202.  Big camp but a slightly rough eddy. The float yesterday was the best, long and hot but really relaxed.  Savoring the canyon.

Stopped on my hike today and did some of the same.  Sat and watched and listened.  No aircraft noise, no river sounds, just the breeze, birds, lizards and insects.  Really special.

Sunday, June 19, 2005

Camping at Upper 220.

Good and bad day today.  Maybe that's to be expected on the last day of an 18 day river trip.  I'm blaming the alcohol but I do see that as the cause of most evils.

We did ok this morning but, after lunch, it got windy.  Steve worked unnecessarily hard to get in front of everyone in a ghastly wind only to be told that we were pulling in at Three Springs.  (Phil wanted to get water.)  After he worked way harder than necessary to get into the eddy, everyone decided we shouldn't stop because of the wind.  He was over it so I offered to row.  I enjoyed rowing and did a good job.  Steve took over at the rapids.  After the last rapid, we were within sight of camp so he stayed in the seat.  The wind picked up and I told him what I thought which, of course, he didn't appreciate, so we argued all the way into camp.  Since then he's been less than positive about everything I've asked him to do.  I wanted the boat moved so I didn't have to sleep in the wind.  We needed to move the boats out.  Bascially it sucks. 

But enough whining.  It's a beautiful night in the Grand - almost a full moon, a peaceful eddy, little to no wind.  Dinner was awesome.  We sat around the circle this afternoon, visted and listened to bluegrass.  I rowed an did a good job.  Got a few compliments.  And tomorrow we'll be at the South Rim, seeing it all from a different vantage point.

Savor tonight and look forward to tomorrow with eager anticipation.

Getting to know you

We interrupt your regularly scheduled program for the following tripe:

Here Is What You Are Supposed To Do...And Please Do Not Spoil The Fun!
1. Hit Forward
2. Delete My Answers
3. Type In Your Answers
4. Then Send This To A Whole Bunch Of People That You Know... And Send It Back To Me So I Can See Your Answers

The theory is that your friends will learn a lot of little known facts about you.

1. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE?
The Virgin Mary? I do have an older first cousin once removed who has the same name.  My mom says that she didn't think we'd both still have our maiden names.

2. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED?

Last Friday when I woke up to Andrew DeVries story on Morning Edition's StoryCorps.

3. Do you like your handwriting?

most of the time

4 . WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCH MEAT?

rare roast beef

5. DO YOU HAVE KIDS?
I say that, although I wasn't sure I wanted any, I have four: my daughter, my husband, my dog and my cat.

6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON, WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU
It would depend on who I was.  Oh, if I was me?  Yes, I think I'd get along with myself.

7. Do you use sarcasm?

Never.

8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS?

Yes, and they're huge.

9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP?

I unintentionally bungeed jumped from a hot air balloon when I was pregnant.  The bungee jumping part was intentional.

10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL?

Life.

11. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF?

No, but that's because my shoes don't have laces.

12. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG?

Yes.

13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM?

coffee.  When I was a kid, I'd go to Baskin Robbins 31 Flavors and order vanilla.

14. WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE?

Build

15. Red or Pink?

red

16. WHAT IS THE LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOU?
my condescension

17. WHAT DO YOU MISS?

good deep dish pizza

18. DO YOU WANT EVERYONE TO SEND THIS BACK TO YOU?

Only if they want to.

19. WHAT COLOR PANTS AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING?

blue and none

20. WHAT WAS THE LAST THING YOU ATE?

A Lofthouse frosted sugar cookie.  The things are like cupcakes.  Yum!

21. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW

The refrigerator humming.  I thought about getting up and turning on some music so my answer wouldn't be as boring but inertia won.

22. IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE?

No clue. Probably some boring color. 

23. FAVORITE SMELLS?
bread baking

24. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOUTALKED TO ON THE PHONE?

Kim

25. DO YOU LIKE THE PERSON WHO SENT THIS?
yes.

26. FAVORITE SPORTS TO WATCH?
I don't watch sports.

27. HAIR COLOR ?
brown with grey (still more brown than grey)

28. EYE COLOR?

brown

29. Do you wear contacts

No.  Lasix!

30. FAVORITE FOODS?
sushi

31. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS?

happy endings

32. LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED?
The September Issue

33. WHAT COLOR SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING?

brown

34. SUMMER OR WINTER?
summer, although winter's here are pretty awesome.

35. HUGS OR KISSES?

hugs

36. FAVORITE DESSERT?

chocolate mousse

37. MOST LIKELY TO RESPOND?

?

38. LEAST LIKELY TO RESPOND

?

39. What book are you reading now?

Marie Antoinette by Antonia Fraser and Kittens for Dummies

40. WHAT IS ON YOUR MOUSE Pad?

I don't have a mouse pad.

41. WHAT DID YOU WATCH ON T.V.. LAST NIGHT?
I don't have a TV

42. FAVORITE SOUND?

rivers

43. ROLLING STONES OR BEATLES?
Beatles

44. WHAT IS THE FARTHEST YOU HAVE BEEN FROM HOME?

China

45. Any new news in your life?
no.

46. WHERE WERE YOU BORN?

Chicago

47. WHOSE ANSWERS ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO GETTING BACK?

?

May 1, 2001 and June 18, 2005

More river journal:

Tuesday, May 1, 2001

Sitting on the raft at Whitmore Wash, watching the helicopter ferry the commercial passengers out of the canyon.  Part of me is feeling smug because they have to leave and I don't; part of me is a bit envious because they get showers and toilets and restaurants tonight.  Contemplating also the controversy of allowing helicopter ferries and concluding that I have no objection to them.  I just don't get all worked up about them.  I actually enjoy watching it fly in and out.

Another hot, sunny day.  Nice short hike to pictographs.  Saw some flowering ocotillos cacti up close.  Took a dip in the river.  Brrr, but very satisfying.

Saturday, June 18, 2005

Camping at Lower 202.

What a mellow river party day.  We ran into Steve's friend and his fellow guides just after they had disgorged their guests at the helipad and while they were breaking down their oar boats to motor on to Diamond Creek for their take-out tonight.  We scored some ice, candy, fod and, of course, the all important beer.  After that, we slowly made our way downriver.  We stopped just below Fat City and then caught up with Phil and Jill.

Just below Parashant, we came upon the rest of the group waiting for us.  I felt bad but we had no idea, they'd wait less than four miles from camp.  They left lunch out for us too.  It was very nice.  We were very appreciative and responded with cold beer and candy.

Strong head wind again today.

Formal night/Phil's birthday was fun last night.  Phil got out the glo sticks and performed for us all.  Dancing Man.  Today, he rowed all day with a red cape.  He also provided the tiki torches which have made the camp circle much more inviting each night. 

I'm getting excited for the South Rim!

April 30, 2001 and June 17, 2005

More river journal:

Monday, April 30, 2001, a.m.

Well, right now I'm sitting at the eddy for the scout for Lava.  We did get up and out early this morning (on the water before 7:30 am) and then decided to hike for a few hours after we scouted Lava from river left.  We rowed over to river right and watched another trip run Lava.  One boat totally lost an oar and the paddle boat had a swimmer.  The rest ran it with little problem.  Our group is going to hike for a few hours, the idea being that the river will be going down (Sunday water) and the rapid will be a bit friendlier.  I'm not hiking because I don't think my blisters and my hiking boots will get along very well.

We did find an eddy beer this morning.  Good omen?

Monday, April 30, 2001, p.m.

Lava was fine.  A great ride with the biggest waves.  We had what I thought could have been three bad omens but everything went well.

The three omens were a big horn sheep skeleton, a contrail X in the sky and a lizard fight.

Writing in the moonlight ergo the messiness.  Camping at 185.  Peaceful calm late afternoon five mile float.

Friday, June 17, 2005

Camping at 185.5 camp - river right.  Nice sheltered area, fairly gentle eddy.  Steep drop off so the tide could be interesting.

Last night was horrid.  The eddy was so rough, it drove me to the beach.  I was so sand-encrusted I couldn't stand myself.

My old nemesis, chilblains, reared its ugly head again.  Probably from all the standing in the river barefoot.  I think I staved it off for so long by wearing my sandals and by wrapping my feet in duct tape.  Tai suggested that I put Bag Balm on them which only exacerbated the whole sand issue.  Today, I wrapped them in duct tape and wore bike socks under my sandals.  That worked pretty well.  They seem to be ok right now.  But then again, it is dark, so who knows?

I got out in the inflatable kayak yesterday and really liked it.  I played in the eddy for a very short time and then ran National Rapid ~six times.  Since I enjoyed it so much.  I decided to ducky the almost 12 miles to Lava today.  I ran two+ rapids.  It was fun but it was also a lot of work.  It got windy and I had to do a lot of extra paddling to stay out of the way of the rafts.

Now to Lava.  Steve ran third after Tom and Jason.  He had a good set up and easily missed the ledge hole.  However, we entered the V wave too far left and got pushed into the right wave which surfed us hard.  I watched the right front tube come up over my head and thought we were going over.  As the raft settled back down, I looked behind me in time to see Steve disappear off the side of the boat.  I looked at the rapid and decided I would just have to ride it out.  I saw we were wide of Cheese Grater Rock and realized that I had to get into Steve's set in order to get the boat to an eddy.  Just as I was turning around and getting up to do so, I saw Steve climbing back into the boat.  I have never been so happy to see him and told him so.  He got back behind the oars and finished the rapid.  All of this happened in less time than it takes to read about it.

After five more miles into a really strong headwind (not as bad as June 6), we arrived at camp for Formal Night, Phil's birthday and my last night of cooking.  Hot dogs!