grey jay way

that is a grey jay. or gray. whichever is correct. he lives off a trail on mount evans in idaho springs. i call him warren. he looks dignified like a warren, doesn't he?

i started my job and man is it change. for the better!! i went from having about a million things to do each day to having about ten. i have way less stress. i have time to myself. i have my own cube. there's a kitchen with water and coffee. okay we had that too at my old place. but i also have sodas for a quarter. okay we had free sodas before. but we might soon be getting a cafeteria with awesome lunch choices. i mean things cannot get better. of course, it did snow just enough to mess things up yesterday. i don't mind the snow, but i want a lot of it. i don't want just enough to mess up the driveway and the streets and make me slip and fall. i want some serious snow. up to my knees. i can't slip in that!

i'm still putting off my best albums of the year list. it was just not a great year for music. i'm having a hard time coming up with a top ten list. i have about five right now. but i need to go back and look at the entire year. i have to be missing something. i know i bought a lot of albums this year. they couldn't have all been bad, right?

this past weekend bruce came up and we hung out with britt daniel of spoon/divine fits fame and got our picture with him. we headed to vail on saturday and saw wilco play that night. it was about ten degrees in vail and snowing while they played. we also walked about twenty miles to the venue because we got lost. sunday we drove home and i have rarely been terrified in my life, but i was seriously terrified driving up loveland pass. it was snowing. my windows were fogging up. people were flying by me. i couldn't see my lane because there were no tire marks anymore. it was awful. but we made it. even through the tears, we made it. i'll have pictures probably this weekend of the trip and the shows. i can say without a doubt the picture i have of britt daniel is the most uninterested rock star you've ever seen. stay tuned.

big star

the jayhawks 'big star'.

my favorite line: "grapes bitter, i'm no quitter; revolutions come one by one, seems it's high noon and i ain't got no gun."

that's how i felt at the age of 25. now, seven years later, i still love that line because it reminds me of that mindset i had at 25.

2012 was a big year. obviously this is year in retrospective blog entry. i'll get to my top albums of 2012 later in the year. not a great year in music, that's why i'm not rushing it.

in 2012, i passed the cpa test finally, was promoted to senior auditor and finally got myself a new job outside of public accounting. i also visited new york city for the first time and i have things set up to get my book self-published in 2013. big year i should say. i know things are getting harder for my generation as we're getting older. the decisions we made in our early to mid-twenties are coming back to haunt some of us. they're like slow moving glaciers that gain speed and girth and finally they destroy you in what seems like seconds when actually they've been building for a decade. if i had advice for those people, i would say move out of the way of the glacier. we're still young. start again and if that fails, start again again. warren zevon said it best, 'i'll sleep when i'm dead.' success is how you define it. to be honest, i could be working at twist and shout here in denver and feel like a million bucks because this is exactly where i want to be.

the medication is wearing off

first off i had a dream last night where i was so funny, i actually took notes in the dream because the material that was coming out of my mouth was star search material. but now awake and drinking my coffee, i have no idea what i was saying in that dream or who i was saying it to. it was good though. gold, jerry. gold.

next off we have a friend in denver leaving town. that's right. people actually leave denver too. that was surprising to me. i thought most came and never left. but this guy is the guy who demitria went to school with and really helped us out when we first go here. he showed us some places to go hiking and go for beers. real nice guy. his choice of going away party was a new place in the cool area of denver off of broadway. for denver, the venus is a massive new place. it has a few bowling lanes, up-right old-school video games, shuffle board, a huge bar area and a place for bumper boats. i made that last part up and i included it because i used as a joke last night and no one laughed. i mean when people are commenting on how big it is and they're going item by item about what's there and i say, 'yeah and the bumper boats were really surprising.'. that deserves a laugh. this town.

anyway, the place was alright. but......the music was so loud i could not hear anyone talking. demitria has complained several times that when i use her mp3 player i hurt her brain because i don't turn the volume down and it's so loud, the music i listen to. i think i'm having some residual effects of listening to music on headphones my whole life because unless i'm looking at the person, i can't hear them in one of those places. and when you do lean in close enough to have a conversation, you're yelling at the person you're talking to. and yelling things like, 'well i think the texans are a great team, but i don't see how they go into foxboro next monday and beat the patriots!' it feels weird yelling things like that.

it's interesting when you're standing around and thinking, man i'm too old for this place. in fact, i'd rather be sipping coffee and reading my book about the federal reserve. wow. when you're thinking that at a place like that, you really take a step back. things have changed for you. because i guarantee 23 year old me would punch this guy in the face. but this guy has better insurance so that could be taken care of and this guy has more confidence than 23 year old me, so i think although i'd be startled by the first blow, 33 year old me would eventually come out of on top. so coffee and books win! i knew they would.

it's the most wonderful time of the year

in all the hubbub of discussing christmas songs and decorations, i didn't realize until late last night that one year ago yesterday, i had surgery on my torn acl. one year ago yesterday they cut me open and took a hamstring that was just minding his own business and slid him into my knee and turned him into an acl. and he's done well so far. to say i'm 100% would not be true, but i would say i'm about 97% which i consider a victory. one of my goals over the winter is to get my knee stronger by really focusing on leg exercises at the gym. then once the snow melts, i'll be ready to hike up those mountains ago next spring with no issues.

one for the boys

today is december 1st, which for me, is the beginning of the christmas season. i'm starting to get into christmas music and the christmas scene. not buying stuff really, just the shiny paper and decorating the tree and stuff like that. but i really like the music. that's what makes christmas. so today i went out and bought some new christmas music to update our catalog because all we really had was a beach boys ultimate christmas album and some cds that jack burned for us. we're planning on decorating the tree tonight, so we'll break in the new music tonight.

but one of my favorite christmas music stories involves the beach boys. so long after pet sounds, during the nadir mid-70s, the boys made a christmas album. it kind of sucked besides like one brian wilson song that was awesome. the rest of the songs were weak as was par for the course during the mid-70s. anyway, the label rejected the album. they didn't want an album of christmas songs for their last beach boys album, because i forgot to mention, the boys were changing labels. so they had all these christmas songs they wrote and they didn't feel like writing a new album. so what did they do? they took the christmas songs they wrote and just threw some new words in and released the proper beach boys album MIU. MIU is one of the worst beach boys albums ever. but what's awesome is hearing the same song as two different versions, one christmas and one non-christmas.

for instance on MIU, there is the song 'kona coast', on the aborted christmas album it's 'melekalikimaka'. on MIU, there is 'peggy sue' the song by buddy holly, on the aborted christmas album it's 'christmas time is here again.'

it's so awesome to listen to! the same song. one is christmas! one is not! leave it to the mid-70s cash grabbing beach boys. the songs from the aborted christmas album actually we're finally released as part of ultimate christmas, which is an amazing christmas album to have by the beach boys. it's got their first christmas album from 1964 on it as well. good stuff. anyway, motown christmas is playing right now. back to it!

dust n' bones

wow. that's really small. you can clink on it and zoom in to read the history of financial laws and regulations. it's a really great chart.

actually it doesn't blow up. you can click here and see it zoomed in better. 

the deodorant song

has anyone ever bought defective deodorant? the stuff i'm using, i don't think it works. in fact, i think it does the opposite. i end up smelling pretty rank by like noon. what is that? i would think that if there was a smell that was determined to be smelt that the deodorant would fight it off until later in the day. but this deodorant does not. i think they're in cahoots. they tag team to create this awful smell and they laugh and mock my attempt at cleanliness. i won't have it. it's time to take action.

also in other news, as many of you know, i will be leaving my job at PwC. it's not something i take lightly. i've never worked at a company like PwC. there are good/smart people who work here. they really want you to succeed. they do work you though. a lot. but i was also able to travel to seattle, new york, chicago, atlanta, salt lake city, kansas city and houston. there's been ups and downs. i've failed and succeeded. but i'm proud to have worked at this company. so now i get to start another job with a new company in a new industry. i'm planning for the future. and i think i'm right where i should be. that's a good feeling. i hope that i can continue to say that going forward. time will tell.

i thought about this the other day. last thanksgiving was kind of miserable. i had just failed another cpa test and i was scheduled to have acl surgery a week after thanksgiving. things were not great for the k-man. but a year later, my knee is feeling great. i have passed all my tests and i am about to start a new job with a great future ahead. so let that be a lesson to everyone. things can change. they can get better. be ready for it when it does get better and enjoy the hell out of it.

afterword on previous entry

that song could be the best song of the year on the year's best record.

just sayin'.....

Funtimes In Babylon- Father John Misty

don't steal our sun

as part of the birthday celebration, i had the crazy/stupid idea to take a road trip. this was on a day when it was snowing in denver and we were headed north, which only meant the snow was going to be worse. and it was going to be much, much colder. but that did not deter us. we are now mountain people and mountain people are not afraid. we headed up to estes park because i wanted to see the rocky mountain national forest under snow. as you can see above, it wasn't totally under snow. but there was snow.

so the sixth picture down, you can see the elk huddled together out in the field. to get those closer shots at the top, i got out the car and walked up to this ridge. now it was incredibly cold. the temperature from the car dash was saying 28 degrees. but the wind was what was tough to take. i got to the top of that ridge and i could barely hold the camera still. i was even using my new tripod and it was still blowing all over the place. my cheeks were frozen and my hands were beginning to feel like glass, so i snapped those shots super quick and headed back to the car. the fifth and i think sixth picture, demitria took. she was excited to take some pictures too of the scenery.

the weather ended up not being too bad until we headed home. by then it was dark and the roads were slick. we drove down i-25 doing about 20 miles an hour because everyone was going so slow. it was fun though. we listened to new country music and joked about how terrible the songs were. it was a fun trip.

and then the texans beat the bears on sunday to go to 8-1. my super bowl pick of texans and packers looks better and better every week.

man in the sand

i bought mermaid avenue vol. 1 at hastings music in huntsville, texas, probably in 2002. i was a wilco fan at the time. i knew they did something with some english dude named billy bragg and the songs they recorded were by woody guthrie. i didn't know much more than that. my internet ability/availability was still slim in those days. i bought it only because it had wilco's name on it.

earlier this year, they repackaged the entire set: mermaid avenue vols. 1 and 2 and they added a 3 with a dvd documentary of the making of the records. there are songs vol. 1 that still are wilco songs to me, even though woody wrote them. california stars. hoodoo voodoo. at my window sad and lonely. one by one. another man's done gone.

i was listening to these songs at the age of 22 or so. and i can't even imagine that i really understood them at that time in my life. but that was not the point. the point was to hear them. to try and understand them. to understand the protagonist's point of view. to try and live in the song.

but you try that with every song. i guess watching the documentary has taken me back to driving too fast in huntsville. to thinking i had the world laid out then. my small apartment and my small street. those were really interesting times.

birthday

my birthday has already come and gone. they go quick, don't they? what is there to pass along as knowledge after 33 years? not a lot. i realize i have fewer friends year after year, but the friends i do have are for the history books. mom and jack hooked me up with grade-a grilling material. when we finally get a house and a really nice grill, we're going to be set in that department. demitria vastly improved my camera setup with a bag and a tripod. the camera i have is so awesome that the zoom goes so far that the slightest shake by me and the picture's are blurry. the tripod will go a long way to fixing that. also we went out to dinner and had some really good sushi. i was even in bed by almost ten. demitria was joking that it was my perfect birthday. gifts, sushi, sake and being in bed by ten. it was great.

this weekend we're going hiking (if it doesn't snow). and we're going to see a show at the hi-dive. birthdays are still great. you don't have the parties and the people and the commotion like when you were younger. all that's left are the really special parts. the special people. the special moments. the special calls. it's nice. i can handle it.

the beaks of eagles

i'm back from my california trip. i made the awesome mistake of forgetting my camera which i realized as we were like ten feet from the airport. so i had to make due with my phone camera. the website i posted last week with the link had some good shots of the resort as well. i didn't get a chance to put my foot in the pacific because the coastline was real rocky and i didn't have my rocky coastline shoes on when i went for the walk so that will have to remain on my list of things to do in my life. but as you can see above, i got a couple good ones.

now i'm back home. right where i want to be. i don't see myself leaving denver for probably the next six months at least and it's a break from travelling i need. since june, i've been to salt lake city, new york, houston, seattle, houston, los angeles. i'm ready for that list to say denver, denver, denver, denver, with maybe boulder, golden or estes park thrown in there. i need days like yesterday. we got the oil changed in the subaru and an emissions test for the truck. we also cut and tied all the limbs in the back alley and raked and bagged all the leaves in the front yard. to top it off, we grilled out and watched a pretty terrible movie while doing two loads of laundry. that list sounds boring and tedious, but those things have to be done. and with all my travels and work and other family events, they've been piling up on us. and we knocked them out big time yesterday. there's more to do in the coming weeks, but next weekend is my birthday celebration. we're going to see the wooden sky live at the hi dive. can't wait for that. i'm also going to do my usual cd splurge and buy about six albums.

or maybe i should buy an album for each year i've been on earth? or each day? that's interesting. how many have i been on earth? let's do the math: 365 X 33 = 12,045. now that doesn't count probably 8 leap years, so add in another 8 days and you get 12,053. that's approximately how many days i've been on earth. wild. and in all those days, i still don't understand nougat. 

gold day

so these are some of the shots from our trip up to golden yesterday. as you can see, i became obsessed with the suspension bridge and how it hung in the sky when the sun was setting. it set up this amazing shot with the clouds moving in the background. i took about twelve shots or more just of that. color/black and white and i zoomed in and out. i think i might put them all together in one frame and just different variations of the same shot. we'll see. anyway, hope you guys like them.

hotel california

today i'm heading out to california to stay at the terranea resort. the place looks amazing. i'm going to take my real camera and hopefully come back with some amazing shots. speaking of that, we took off to golden yesterday and hit up the small backyard brewery and than walked the stream in the middle of town. golden is a photogenic town. i'm going to post some of the shots from yesterday. i got some good ones.

also last night demitria and i hit up this bar by the house and dove head first into the trivia contest for the night. we battled most teams that were five or six people deep. we had only two. and we came in second place. we were leading most of the game, but there is a way to double your score from a round and we used ours early because we didn't know how long the game went. i thought we did great. two people and we took down most of the bar. we won $20, of course you have to spend it there, but who cares! big money!

snowbirds

last night i got home kind of late from work. it was rainy and cold. i didn't want to go anywhere. so we took the cushions off the couch and watched netflix for two hours. after that i was ready to go to bed, but we thought it would be fun to check to see if it had snowed yet. it was snowing like crazy! the ground was still warm, so it was only sticking in the trees and on the grass. we turned out all the lights and sat and watched the snow fall for about thirty minutes before finally going to bed. watching the snow fall is extremely peaceful. it's quiet. it's white. it adds this beautiful blanket to the neighborhood. we're supposed to get more tonight and tomorrow. i hope we get six feet of snow. we'll sit inside, drink hot coffee and watch the flakes pile up around us. no better place to be.

welcome to the working week

the trip is over. we're back from our texas vacation. saw family, friends and got down at demitria's little brother's wedding. it was a great trip. it really was. but now it's back to the grind. and it really is beginning to become a grind.

next week i head out to california for a company pep rally. i'm not looking forward to it. but it will probably be the last trip i take until next spring. by then, i'll be ready to travel again. for now, i'm ready to stay home and get back in shape.

my world series pick of rangers versus dodgers did not materialize. the giants and tigers will fight for the crown. i'm going with the giants. i don't know how they keep doing it, but they do. and they'll be coming into the series with some adrenaline after the seven game series with the cards. you can count on the tigers winning all the games verlander pitches though. that dude is a stud. like cliff lee a few years ago.

hopefully i'll have more pictures soon. i'll probably take my camera with me to california. and a jacket. and a hat. and pants.

kill our friends tonight and bury them out of sight

joe sampson is one of the denver artists featured at the iceland concert/thing we went to a couple weeks ago. he played this song that night and it's been partially stuck in my head ever since. it's not the most amazing thing ever, but it's simple and straightforward and i really dig the lyrics. enjoy.

gobbledigook

iceland. it was back this weekend. denver hosted a reykjavik centric concert on saturday night and a film festival on sunday. we listened to icelandic bands and some of them were great. they were paired with denver singer/songwriters and some of them were great too. i actually met one dude and talked to him. he had this elvis perkins/fleet foxes vibe without the mountain man look. anyway, really nice guy. i bought one of his shirts. it has a fox's face on it. the night wolf! those of you who've come to visit will recognize the night wolf's face. i really enjoyed all of it. the music. the movie. before the movie on sunday was a promotional video to visit iceland. i saw it and wished i was there again. i don't think i've ever visited somewhere that felt as alive and as vibrant, but alone and isolated as iceland. the ground shakes and rumbles. it's alive. but the people are just there. a world away. i miss it. i wish i could get back there as soon as possible.

if you're interested, from iceland was lay low, mugison, petur ben and soley. from denver was joe sampson, julie davis, erin roberts and patrick dethlefs. patrick is the guy i met and bought his shirt.

here's a song from joe sampson. that's him at twist and shout. i saw him at the gothic theatre. cool place, but it smelled like feet. like old shoes.

it felt good to listen to and see iceland again. it's a new/old friend of mine. i'll see it again. soon. and maybe someday, i'll live there. we'll see.

hello seattle

i dig seattle. i could live in seattle. the weather can be a bit spotty, but when it's nice, like it was this week, it's a beautiful waterfront city. the farmer's market, where they sell tons of fish, produce, flowers. it's just amazing. the football stadium is nice with safeco, the baseball stadium, literally right behind it. i was up there for two days this week. on thursday night, we went to the stanford vs. washington game. washington upset the cardinals and the place went nuts. the bottom picture is everyone rushing the field after they won. it was awesome. great place, great city. glad i'm home though.