vegas

And that's all you get, folks. Because, as we all know, what happens in Vegas...

an expansion

In response to the concern over my last post, I give you this:

I'm wondering if the things in my life that make me unhappy (i.e. interactions with people at work or with the friends I've made here) could possibly be turned around by me alone. Perhaps the reason I'm not making friends with the people at work or why I'm not satisfied with the friends I do have out here is simply me. My personality, my spin on situations, my reactions to certain things. Maybe if I could pinpoint a part of me that is so against whatever it is that bothers me in people, I could be just kind of neutral about things and accept people for how they are instead of expecting so much from them...

Now you see why I didn't explain it the first time. My trains of thought never make much sense.

a thought

I think I need to reassess my personality.

not a cat lady

What is it with cats and clean laundry? They love it...

Eric and I had another relaxing weekend. He's been sick for the past few days so we took it easy this weekend. On Friday we went to Dave & Busters with Heather, Andrew, Elgn and Jessica. I haven't been to that place in a long time, so that was interesting. Eric and I spent the least and also got the fewest tickets for prizes. Coincidence? Methinks not. It was still a good time though. I learned how to play shuffle board. Saturday we took it easy some more during the day and then headed out to the Brian Jonestown Massacre show that night. What an incredible band. I feel really fortunate to finally see them (they only toured the Rockies this year), but it was one of those letdown shows. The letdown part had nothing to do with the band's performance, they were exactly as expected: great music, Anton's usual hijinks, pretty heavy crowd/band interaction. The letdown was because we were sitting next to two of the biggest retards I've ever seen. They were drunk out of their minds and acting like compete idiots the entire show. I have nothing against drinking at shows, but you need to be able to keep yourself together enough to actually enjoy the show and be aware of what's going on around you. It reminded me a lot of the Badly Drawn Boy show I went to in Athens a few years ago. I had been into Badly Drawn Boy for a really long time and finally he came to Georgia. I was so psyched about that show...I show up at the 40 watt in Athens and guess what? It's freaking game day. All of the lovely UGA alumni were out in full force, frequenting their old stomping grounds which, apparently, includes the 40 watt. It was like a frat party in there and the band started freaking out on the crowd b/c people were talking and yelling drunken insults the entire show. It was something that should've been exciting and moving and it turned into something that was embarrassing and pathetic for everyone involved. The same thing kinda happened last night. These two guys kept yelling "Fucker!!!" every time it got quiet...what's the point of that? If they didn't like the band, why were they there? Enough of that rant, sorry. All in all, it really was a great show. If you ever get a chance to see this band live, do so. Anton Newcombe is a musical genius, even though he's a completely drug-addled jerk.

Vegas: 4 days and counting. Can't wait.

photo booths, Baran...I'm telling you

I want to post, but I don't have much to talk about. The end result? This filler post. I guarantee you it will be boring, but I really felt like writing today, although I have nothing to say.

This weekend was odd...we didn't really do much at all. We had stuff planned, sure, but didn't really follow through on anything. We were going to go to a show on Saturday night (Alejandro Escovedo) but we did not. I got my crown on Saturday afternoon and I was in a lot of pain. So I compromised with Eric and we decided we would go for a hike on Sunday instead. We thought we'd have a nice quiet night in and then a nice quiet hike the next day. But then our friend Elgn called and wanted us to hang out. We kinda blow him and his girlfriend Jessica off a lot. Not on purpose or because we don't like them, it just kind of happens that way. So we decided we shouldn't blow them off again so we went out to Old Chicago's (a pizza chain in Colorado...and most of the western US, I believe). We had some beers and just chatted for a few hours, then headed over to Elgn's house to play darts. I think he got too drunk and ended the game early (I won), so Eric and I headed home. Eric wasn't feeling well the next day so we hung out around the house all day Sunday. It was pretty much one of the most boring weekends ever, but kinda nice all the same.

In other news, in response to my care package for him, my super great friend Justin sent me a care package that includes...a box camera. How freaking cool is that? It's a working one too, I just have to find the right film for it. It's pretty much the best care package I've ever gotten (I got mixed cds in it too). If some of you are feeling the urge to compete and one-up him, please feel free. I enjoy getting things in the mail. Especially care packages, presents, money, etc.

They hired a new girl at my work. I think she may be ok, but I'm not sure. She kind of gets on my nerves but Eric says everyone kind of gets on my nerves. That may be true. However, she might have good taste in music, which is something that I haven't seen out here yet. I'll update you as I know more about whether or not she'll be awesome. Her name is Tiffany though and I can honestly say I've never liked a single Tiffany I've known (excluding one, but here name was only Tiffany because her twin's name was Stephanie, so she was only a Tiffany indirectly). I've never liked a Kelly I've known either. Especially Kelleys.
ick

fully outfitted

I am officially a ski bunny. Wait...can you be a ski bunny without ever having skied (sp?)? Absolutely. Last weekend, the Sports Authority in Boulder had its annual Sniargrab sale (bargains spelled backwards...that's actually their tagline) and Eric and I consumed, consumed, consumed. Correction-- Eric consumed. My lovely boyfriend bought me everything I need to be able to fully enjoy ski season here in snowy (can't wait!!!!!!!!!) Colorado. Everything, that is, short of skis. I decided I didn't want skis until I knew I could ski. What if I fall down the mountain all season on my new shiny skis? That would be a tragedy. However, I do have a shiny new parka, snow pants, gloves, goggles (children's goggles, what a steal. I'm actually lucky to have an irregularly small face), ski socks, hiking boots and socks and a Northface fleece. I'm a regular Coloradan :). Some of you may be shocked that Eric bought me all this (as was I), but you don't understand that he's the best boyfriend in the world. You see, his thinking was that he wanted me to have a good time and learn to love skiing as he does, so he didn't want me to have to stress about not having proper gear. You see, skiing is an exceptionally expensive recreational activity. Everything about it costs hoards upon hoards of cash money and I, as we all know, am perpetually poor. So thank you, again, dear Eric. You really are the best.

Our outside cat, Banjo (mentioned in a previous post on our shared blog) is pregnant. That's right. We are about to have 4+ cats. Granted, only 3 of them technically live with us, but Banjo lives on our porch, which is close enough. I'm extremely concerned about her timing, though. It's starting to get cold here and by the time her babies are 6 weeks old, it'll be snowing. I hope they make it through the winter...I hope we can find a vet who gives discounts for strays...I hope we can find a home for her and eventually her kittens...I hope she (and her kittens) don't have parvo or some other awful disease. If anyone wants a cat, let me know. She's quite beautiful and extremely affectionate. Cats are good for the soul, people. Consider it a spiritual investment.

In two weeks exactly, I will be in Vegas. What an exciting thought. Even more exciting, I will be seeing Ted, Justin, and Paul, all of whom I miss very much. It'd be even more exciting if Baran would come, but you just can't lead a horse to water sometimes, you know?

I get my tooth crowned tomorrow (can I make "crown" a verb?). I'm pretty nervous about it, truth be told. I've never had a crown before, but the dentist lady said that it hurts about equal to a filling (which I think is quite painful). I'll live through it, I'm sure.

In other news, babies are coming out of the woodwork in the next couple weeks. Besides the aforementioned kitty pregnancy, Eric's sister, Julie's, baby is due around September 27. My friends Nick and Tabby's baby is due Friday, October 13 (much to their pleasure, I'm sure). No babies on this end, though. Not for a long while. Good luck to everyone else on their infant endeavors.

autumn upon us?

I just got home from work and I'm sitting at our bar counter drinking a Colorado red (Sangre del Sol 2003) and looking at the grey evening sky and I've realized: fall is here. I knew it would be an interesting switch watching the seasons change in Boulder as opposed to Atlanta, but I wasn't prepared for this. It's September 1st and suddenly...BAM! 56 degrees outside. Granted, it did get up to 75 today for about 5 minutes, but still. Autumn has arrived and here I'm still buying tank tops and sandals. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love fall. September and October are probably my two favorite months, but I tend to get slammed by Seasonal Affective Disorder somewhere around these pre-Christmas months. Caleb can testify, November is almost always an incredibly disastrous month for me, for whatever reason. Oh, a leaf just fell. I saw it.

I fear that Colorado doesn't carry the same pleasant fall feelings as Georgia did. Fall in Georgia meant temperatures slowly (VERY slowly) dropping from the 90s to maybe the low 80s and finally the 70s and 60s around October. I've been told that fall here in Boulder goes from hot to cold. No in between. We'll see what happens. As of right now, I'm okay with my decay.

Just for the sake of posting pictures, I will post some of the pictures Kristen and I (mostly Kristen) took on our hike in Rocky Mountain National Park. Eric just hasn't gotten around to posting anything and they're too good to miss out on.

This first pic is at Nymphet Lake, the first lake we hiked to. It was so pretty with all those lily pads on it....ahhhh.





This next one is the next lake we hiked to, Dream Lake. Notice how clear the water is; you can see every log and rock in the shallow parts, it was beautiful.














This next one is me and my duck friend. He stood next to me and stared at me for a good 5 minutes while I ate cheese and crackers. I felt bad b/c we're not supposed to feed any animals in a National Park, so I couldn't share with him. I think he hated me for it a little bit b/c his little beady black eyes started to turn cold after several minutes.
This is the same lake, but this time the sun is shining on it. Gawhgeous.
There's more, but I'll save some for Eric. I guarantee he will post on our shared blog about the whole Kristen trip, it just might take him a little while.

For those of you who live in Georgia and like hanging out with me and/or Eric, we have booked our tickets home for Christmas. We will be there from midnight on the 20th (let us know if you want to pick us up from the airport at midnight on a Wednesday...) until around 7:30 on the 26th. Obviously we will be spending at least the 24th and the 25th with our families, but there are a lot of people I'd like to squeeze in while we're there. You guys save some time for us as well.