little st. nick

you notice bear sitting next to the tree down there? we tried to hang him as an ornament and he wasn't having any of it. the wrights have decorated for the holiday season and i have to say, it was a major success. the tree is awesome. the fireplace is awesome. we were listening to the beach boys christmas. we heard little st. nick about forty times that night. but we enjoyed it. i hope you guys are getting into the holiday spirit. also, if you're wondering what's up with the one stocking on the fireplace, it's demitria's. she's the only one getting a stocking stuffer this year apparently. greedy. we'll see about that.

happy thanksgiving

so as promised, here are some of the best shots from iceland. happy thanksgiving.

oh baby, houston

we have recently stepped into the 20th century. we're not quite in 21th century yet, give us some more time. but we have a functioning computer and a printer/scanner. and also, like i posted earlier, i found a place to print my black/white photos here in denver. these three are from houston taken around 2008/2009. i drove around the 59 area, on the other side of the ballpark and took the photo of the train tracks. that area was pretty fascinating because right next to new, state-of-the-art condos, was piled up garbage and old railroad tracks. the chairs were sitting out front of a goodwill type place close to the star of hope, which is also downtown. and you might recognize those guys at the top. the huge beatles statues were behind a target off of i-10, behind a locked gate. pete and i got as close as we could and i snapped that photo. so now that i have a scanner, i'm going to scan some of our iceland photos and upload those soon as well.

take a load off your feet

we haven't been hiking in a few weeks. but the weather is still holding up. these are from our previous hike to roxborough.

in other news, are the mets trying to prove that they are one of the dumbest baseball franchises? terry collins? you hire terry collins to manage your team? really? that guy has sucked everywhere he's been. he's a quitter. you had all this time, all these resources and you hire terry collins. wow.

the holy man

dennis wilson- the holy man

untitled #1

greatest video of all time.

bear and candles

the candles were lit. the cat was in his bed. and as we layed together, cuddling, whispering words and purrs of love to each other, i thought, is this wrong? is my love misplaced?

no. no. it is not wrong. our love is not wrong. our love is eternal. and although current legislation makes our love wrong in the eyes of society, i say we shun society. we make our love known and to hell with the world! we will find a way for man and cat to be one.

bad cover version

i was listening to pulp the other day, which i do from time to time and i came across the song "bad cover version."

there were some lyrics in particular that struck me:

"aah, sing your song about all the sad imitations that got it so wrong,
it's like a later 'tom and jerry' when the two of them could talk,
like the stones since the eighties, like the last days of southfork,
like 'planet of the apes' on tv, the second side of 'til the band comes in',
like an own-brand box of cornflakes: he's going to let you down my friend."

i actually heard those lyrics and stopped mid-motion and laughed. because that will be me one day. and it won't be long.

the sun ain't gonna shine anymore

i've recently become obsessed with the music of scott walker. i first heard him doing this song as part of the walker brothers. but it's his solo albums that are freaking me out. plus, i stumbled upon a documentary about him called 30th century man. his solo albums are orchestrated heavily, but they are dark, a little detached and unnervingly beautiful. i haven't seen the documentary yet, but i'm looking forward to it. here is one of my favorite songs on his first solo record called montague terrace (in blue). here is another amazing song from his fourth solo album called on your own again.

there's also the harry nilsson documentary i haven't seen yet.

and the magnetic fields documentary i haven't seen yet. falling behind.

computer blue

i've been having major computer problems for the past two weeks. today, they are solved. evidently, dell will sell you a computer with basically no RAM. so i bought some RAM and my computer is now lightening quick. checkmate kevin.

there is a record store in town called twist and shout. they are supplying me with endless amounts of quality music. scott walker, richard and linda thompson, echo and the bunnymen, galaxie 500, ladybug transistor, the love language, the fresh and onlys, john cale and todd rundgren. ample good stuff. totally love the store. anybody who comes to visit, we will be going there.

i also found a shop here that will develop all my black and white photos. i just got some back of pictures i took in iceland. incredible. i forgot all these shots i had taken. awesome stuff.

i want to see the bright lights tonight

we haven't taken many pictures lately. lots of stuff happening. hopefully we'll get out this weekend and hangout and shoot some cool stuff. in the mean time, check out the cats, well sofie at least.

the day the squirrel went berserk

this little guy has been the subject of much discussion lately. we had two pumpkins sitting out on our patio for halloween. they started to develop little patches where the outside layer was barely picked off. i attributed it to the pumpkins falling off the rail of the patio, which they had done several times. demitria thought it was a bird. well, it turns out we were both wrong. it was this guy. the corner of the patio is a mess with pumpkin seeds and pumpkin extract because this dude went to town on our pumpkins. both of them have massive holes in them. i was standing inside watching him from our front door peep window. we thought about turning them around to fool him, but ultimately, we threw them away. i guess all the apples in the backyard weren't enough.

snowstorm

we experienced our first snow of the year on tuesday. me, demitria and the two cats sat in front of the window and watched it snow. it wasn't a real thick snow, but it did stick for a while. and it snowed last night as well. but we had a snow party that night and listened to the beach boys to stay warm.

i remember you were wild

for my birthday this year, we decided to do the opposite of what we usually do, and that was to get up early and go hiking. what is the opposite of that, i wonder? get up late and go spelunking? i have no idea. but it felt opposite. check out this sign for spelunking.

anyway, enough about spelunking. saturday we woke up and headed to roxborough state park. the hikes were pretty mild, as far as difficulty, but we saw several squirrels and some deer and a pretty little bluebird who kept ahead of us one trail. that was cool. they also had a nice bathroom and a coke machine. the top two pictures are from roxborough.

sunday, we got up and went to evergreen, which a little town west of denver. we hiked around mount falcon for what seemed like half the day. from the list on the link for mount falcon, you can see the parmalee trail details. that's the trail we took. we were only two of four hikers we saw on the trail all day. the rest were bikers. at one point, we were beginning to think about looking for berries and maybe creating a fire, because we weren't sure where we were on the trail and it was close to getting dark. but we made it out alive. the bottom three pictures are from there and the pictures don't do justice to the amazing view we saw on top of that mount. it was incredible. mass amounts of green trees rolling every direction.

so i had a great birthday in denver. also got some pajama pants and a tie rack! and a new jacket! score!

yer birthday

so today is my birthday. i don't any magical/words of wisdom. some things taste better. some things taste worse. sometimes i want to sleep a lot. sometimes i want to get up early and drink coffee. sometimes i want to drink and hang out all night. most of the time, i don't. i still love music. i still love baseball. i sure do like driving with the windows down.

check for pics soon of our hike to mount falcon.

here is your space

a few weekends ago, we hoofed it up to red rocks and walked away and hiked the area. it's truly an amazing sight. i can't wait to see a show there. just getting to the theater is a course in some heavy walking. but we made it and then hiked around the whole area. it wasn't too far from denver. just maybe 25 minutes. on the way back, we ate in golden. i put the one picture of denver in the distance because i thought it was cool to see the city in the far off spot it was.

spooky

since i didn't have the internet during halloween, i thought i'd upload our pictures from that night. we decided to dress as old people and hand out candy. as you can see, the old is a little close to dead, so when the kids came to the door, i don't think they knew who they were looking at: old people or dead people. but we had a few visitors that night, probably about five groups of kids. when we didn't, we made candied apples and watched sweeney todd. you can see our house in the bottom picture. the grass is dead and there are a lot more leaves on the ground right now. the funny thing is, i was dressing as an old dude and the only new thing i had to buy was the glasses! the rest was mine and i still wear it all!

pinecone, oh yes, pinecone

last night, or possibly tonight when you read this, i met kelley stoltz. i've only been in denver a few weeks and i've seen sonny and the sunsets, best coast and i met kelley stoltz.

what a night. pinecone is the best song i've heard all year. hit the sideways triangle and listen. it's amazing.

what a night. i met kelley stoltz and listened to sonny and the sunsets and best coast. sonny actually took the picture you see of me and kelley. i talked with kelley about fifteen minutes about music and such. really cool guy. he gave his new album for free! free! amazing.

sometimes i think dennis wilson is one of the greatest artists of all time. i love brian wilson, but when i listen to pacific ocean blue, i wonder sometimes. and these tracks from the unreleased bambu, under the moonlight, love remember me, and he's a bum. plus, holy man. i'm hurtin' when i hear these songs. if anybody is wondering where i found these songs, go here. it's the best thing i've heard since brian gave it a go with the beach boys love you.

that says a lot. what is king sooper? it's everywhere in denver. i'm going to get free popcorn from the holiday inn up the road.

facts from mile high

internet is finally up and running. i feel born again. not really, but maybe awakened from a mild nap. that's more like it. so, i've been here all of a few weeks now. here is what i've learned:

1. deodorant is optional. it's fantastic. the weather is so smooth and the humidity so little, you don't walk around all day acquiring odor and moistened funk. i've probably worn deodorant maybe four times since we've been here. awesome.

2. the dryness. you wake up everyday thirsting for water. you have to drink water all day. the old days of drinking coffee and diet soda all day are over. if you did that, you would shrivel up and crust over in a matter of days. lots and lots of water needed.

3. the dryness, continued. your body needs moisturizer like crazy. take a shower, put it on. wash your hands, put it on. lots of it. otherwise, your hands will look like mine, cracked and aged after three weeks.

4. the personalities. people in this town don't have outgoing personalities. i have not met one person who has said something witty or interesting yet. lots of blandness and banalness thus far. is banalness a word?

5. good music groups come here. hopefully i'm going to see sonny and the sunsets and best coast tomorrow night at a place called the bluebird on colfax. the morning benders were here last week. the national, the week before. good stuff.

6. lots of suburus.

7. leaves are everywhere. leaves are in the road. they're on the sidewalk. they're everywhere. and they're every color imaginable. except blue. or purple, otherwise known as grape.

8. driving down alameda going to the gym or to target, you can see the snow on the tops of the mountains, plain as day. it's an amazing sight.

i'll have pictures and more stuff later.

colorado

i'm sitting in a starbucks surfing the internet. there is a guy at the table in front of me writing very frantically. i wonder what is so important. probably everything.

the trees are all shades of yellow, red, orange and brown. it's amazing. the seasons really hit here. there is talk of snow on the range. i have no idea where that is. it sounds like an advancing army. i'm nervous about the snow. but i'm sure i'll adapt quick. i bought a huge coat today. it's not made of gortex, but it will do. actually, it might be. i need to check that.

i rode my bike to city park the other day. it was beautiful. the days have been nothing short of painting i've seen before. the cats are adjusting just fine. my skin is super dry, but i'm still productive.

i'll probably have an internet connection by the end of the month. so keep checking in. i'll be posting lots of pictures once i get it up and running.