Movie Marathon

A friend of mine invited me to a theatre's best picture show case. It is where all the movies nominated for best picture are shown over a two day period. The movies run back to back and patrons can recieve a discounted price for purchasing a two day pass.

While it is nice to see many of these movies all at once and seeing them at a discounted price is a steal it is tough to sit all day. In between movies I was doing laps around the parking lot so my hamstrings would not cramp from sitting all day.

It is one thing for me to sit in an office all day during the week. I can get up and walk around and take a break so even though I am at a desk all day I am not sitting all day. Sitting all day and watching movies was difficult (I am sure many people would love to endure such torture!). I have an uncontrolable urge to get up and be active and move around.

Maybe I was born to be a dancer or athlete or a six year old and missed my calling in life. Dancers are very active and for athletes it is a lifestyle. No one on earth is as active as a six year old. Those kids have boundless energy and run around all day. Yep...I definately missed (outgrew) my calling in life...

Events at the University

This week notable poet Nikki Giovanni spoke at University of Colorado Denver. Nikki came to visit the campus as a bridge speaker. She was here to set the bridge between Black History month and Women's history month. Being a female africian american she was the perfect person to represent both events or as they hoped for someone to serve as a bridge between the two events.

I was interested in hearing Nikki's poetry which she did share a piece. She also spoke for close to an hour and she started off talking about pop culture but used it as a transition into women's issues and african american issues. Althought being a white male it was a speech I could not related too it was cool to hear her speak and see her.

The bonus to working at a college is I get to hear famous speakers & interesting lectures and this one was an interesting lecture from a famous speaker.

Wine bar in Highlands Ranch

While I am house sitting I try to get out and explore and I found this great wine bar in highlands ranch. It is called Indulge Bistro and they serve wine, tapas, and desserts. The bartender was friendly, made a few recommendations, and allowed me to sample a few wines. He mentioned they had fifty wines on their wine list but I am sure I counted closer to seventy wines.

The kitchen was closed so I did not get to try any food but I will return to check out a few more wines while I am staying in Highlands Ranch. They have a great dimmly lit atmosphere with a hip look so it is a great place to meet friends or wind down a date. I hear they will be opening up a second restuarant in Golden so I am excited there will be one closer to my side of town.

The Buried Life

While house sitting I started watching a few different reality TV shows and it reminded me of a reality show on MTV I use to watch. The show was called the Buried Life.

The show documented four friends as they bused across America. They made a list of 100 things to do before you die and were travling across America achieving goals from their list.

For every item they try to complete on their list, they help a stranger achieve one of their dreams. The show was very positive as the guys would encourage others to pursue their goals and they were always asking the question "What do you want to do before you die?". They aim to inspire others to create their own lists, and continue to work on their own.

So far they have done two seasons and I hear the show has not been renewed for a third season with MTV.

Of all the reality TV shows that were cancelled they had to cancel this one? Next to extreme home makeover this show was the most fun & uplifting show I have watched. Until it comes back, (let's be honest it probably won't come back) I may have to see if I can old episodes on Hulu.

Heckler

I had switched over to a new girl who cuts my hair. She is great and has a lot of attitude and is edgy so I like her. I always seem to end up & get along well with girls who have attitude, spunk, wicked sense of humor.

We have a good relationship it's just she feels very strongly I should be dating and in a relationship. Each time I visit her she will ask about who I am dating and tell me to get out there and get going. My last visit she took it up a notch and started teasing me. I take joking & teasing well but I can't believe it comes from the girl who cuts my hair!! My family is one thing, it is expected that there would be questions & prodding from family & friends.

This is different it is my barber. I pay her and she cuts my hair and then abuses me...

I guess since no one in my family prodes me or hassles me about dating then my barber has to pick up the slack. I wonder if family & friends know her and encourage her to harass me?

Rituals

While going for the usual Starbucks run with co-workers a co-worker of mine was talking about the family ski trip he makes with his daughters. We were talking about all the activities outside of the trip like eating at a favorite restaurant or eating a favorite type of food after the ski trip. He made the comment that these things were rituals.

I have not thought of many of the things that I do as rituals but they are. Anything from going for coffee each morning, to bringing books to read with me when I ride the bus, or drinking a shake two hours after I work out. Even something as simple as choosing to make my eggs a certain way or see movies at a certain theater are rituals that color my life. I may not always think of them as such, too often they are just things that I look forward to for a period of time. Many times I only look forward to how they make me feel and this is what makes them rituals.

They are symbolic in the sense that I do not engage in these activities for any hidden meaning but how they make me feel. That feeling of satisfaction at that moment I could not attain in any other way. They have meaning in what the experience provides me.

A tough day

Friday was a rough day at work. My coworkers were noisy enough they gave me a headache, it seemed like I was interrupted every time I started a project, and felt like I could not get any work done all day. By 5 pm I was exhausted and ready go do home and relax. All of the sudden doing nothing in the evening appealed to me.

I was able to relax and nap before I was supposed to play online games with friends. I was going to cancel because I was very tired and wanted to be alone to rest and relax but I decided to play with my friends. I had forgotten how much fun I have with friends and how something as simple as connecting over a PC game is the type of fun I need to relax after a long day.

Here is to friends who brighten one's day!

The Blame Game

I usually think of myself as an honest person and someone who is level headed. I believe I am objective and see things as they are. Because I see myself in this vein I tend to view anything I think or say as accurate and the truth. I never think wow I am doing something irrational like blaming someone.

Over the last couple months I realized I was missing my favorite pair of boots. I was trying to remember what happened to them and could not remember the last time I saw them. I guessed that the couple I rent from had accidentally picked them up and placed them somewhere. It seems like a logical idea as the couple I live with are not very aware of belongs and shuffle things around in the apartment. They have accidentally picked up a few items of mine in the past and misplaced them.

There is nothing wrong with guessing that could be a reason about why I cannot find my boots but there were other possible explanations like maybe I misplaced them somewhere in the house or maybe I left them at one of the homes I house sit on another side of town. For whatever reason I would not think about other possible places the boots could be after looking in the house at a few places.

I became aware that the explanation for my boots disappearance was not just a credible idea I was holding on too but instead it was blame. It was easier to blame them for my problem then spend time struggling with it and figuring out where my boots where hidden.

The more I became aware I was blaming this couple for the disappearance of my boots I felt bad. It was not until after I let go of blaming them that I found my boots while packing for a vacation. When I found my boots I realized I had placed them in a closet that I rarely open and that is why I could not find them.

Sometimes the only person to really blame or point the finger at is myself.

Third trip to Hawaii

Just returned from my third trip to Hawaii in ten years. I don't go to that place enough...it is amazing!

This time I visited the big island. I flew into Hilo and stayed in a resort on the other side of the Island, Kailua Kona. At first I did not like the idea of driving a couple hours to where I was staying but it did allow me to travel all over the Island and to see the Island which was amazing.

On one of our tours they said the world has 21 climates and 18 of them can be found on Hawaii. It was amazing to see snow off the top of a volcano and to drive through lush jungle areas and see fields of volcanic ash. I saw waterfalls that were a couple thousand feet long & whales.

The highlight of trip was a helicopter ride over most of the island where I flew over an active volcano. Lava oozes out of the volcanos in Hawaii so I did see the oozing lava as well as a cone of lava that was spewing. The spewing lava cone was not large and not the normal but it was amazing to see. A couple meals were spent at restaurants off the beach or at the tops of cliffs over looking the coast line on a sunny day.

The place is gorgeous! If you have not been to the big Island in Hawaii then please GO!! (I recommend a helicopter flight across the big Island, visiting the Volcano parks on the south of the Island, and the lush parks on the north side of the island)

Upon flying back to Denver I had to dig my car out of two feet of snow. I have not been back in Denver less than 24 hours and I already miss Hawaii.