Weather, Transporting Kayaks, and Big Men and Little Dogs

Weather: I just realized that it has been a long time since I've given the weather report. It's been hot, very hot, here in Boulder. It's hot to such a degree that it would be nice to sit in a bathtub full of ice water...or cold beer... But at least it is a dry heat, as they always say. I checked the weather reports for New York and temperatures when I'm there should be in the 80s with humidity around 60%. After living in Colorado for five years, I don't like humidity that much. It is also supposed to rain a few days when I'm in New York. Hopefully I can buy an umbrella in the hotel or somewhere near the hotel. I love walking in the rain, but not when I have to go to the office. It probably wouldn't be nice to sit in a meeting with drenched hair and clothes.

Transporting Kayaks: With all of the outdoors people here in Colorado, you think that anyone would know how to transport a kayak. Most people have roof racks and they simply tie the kayak down. Any smart person knows that the kayak should probably run the length of the car. But while I was out today I actually saw one idiot who, for whatever reason, tied the kayak across the width of the car. The ends of the kayak (I'm sure there is a word more technical than "end") were sticking out over the sides of the car like wings. Naturally no one wanted to get near this guy. I honestly want to know what made this guy think that what he did was a good idea...

Big Men and Little Dogs: Sometimes you can't help but to put certain impressions, images, or stereotypes in your head. You would think that big guys would like big dogs. While I was out today (again), I saw a sight that proved that theory wrong. I saw a guy walking a dog. This was a big guy. If he was a football player, I'd guess that he was a linebacker or a free safety. He was tall and full of muscles. You would think that he would have a big dog like a Great Dane. Nope. He was walking a little chihuahua that looked like it could probably fit in one of his hands. Just the sight of this giant man and this tiny dog made me smile.

The floor of my apartment is covered with page proofs, so I guess I better get back to work...

Work, Travel, Tiny Bottles, and Security

Work: Well, this week has been quite busy, stressful, and exhausting. Work has been keeping me extremely busy, and one project in particular has been taking up all of my time. We're pushing the limits of the deadline, but (with the help of a friend and co-worker) the book should go to press on Wednesday. And this is just one book of many that I'm working on. I've been working a lot of long hours and weekends, and it's exhausting. Oh well. It will all get done.

Travel, Tiny Bottles, and Security: I leave for New York on Tuesday, and as it turns out, I will be going alone. Another co-worker was supposed to come, but I just found out that she is not going. This essentially means that I will be running from one meeting to another all day long. If another person was coming we could at least take turns and have one go to one meeting and another go to another meeting. But now I'll be going to all of the meetings. Most of my travel arrangements have already been made. All I need to do is call the shuttle service to make a reservation for them to take me to the airport. Meanwhile, I've been shopping around for those tiny bottles and travel sized items to take along with me. And, honestly, there are just some things I need that aren't available in travel sizes. Normally I don't like to check my bags when I'm going to an unfamiliar airport in an unfamiliar city, but I might have to this time. Because, God forbid, I need more than three ounces of some kind of gel or liquid! I'm all for security and keeping people safe when we travel, but some things just perplex me. Sure, maybe you can make a great bomb out of various liquids and gels. And, okay, maybe there is a threat if someone brings any liquid or gel of any kind in a carry on bag. So we are either forced to put these liquids or gels into tiny bottles or we have to check our bags. Ironically, though, if you had the inclination to carry on a 7-inch screwdriver or sharp, pointed scissors with 4-inch blades, you are more than welcome to. In spite of the fact that you can stab someone in the back or the ear with a screwdriver or slit someone's throat with scissors, these will pass through security without a problem. But don't you dare try to bring in a 5 ounce tube of toothpaste!

I suppose I should end this post before I get placed on a terror watchlist...

Pooped

I don't have that much to say other than I'm pooped. But I just had soup and a sandwich for dinner, so maybe that will give me a burst of energy. I hope so, because I have to work again tonight.

Current drink: Barq's Root Beer
Current mood: the Mean Reds - you'll have to watch Breakfast at Tiffany's to understand that reference

Unwinding

Well, this past weekend was sort of busy, and things were really busy at work today, too. I took some work home over the weekend, but I didn't accomplish nearly as much as I wanted to or needed to. I worked hard today, but still had to take some more work home tonight. That's simply a sign of how much we have going on right now. The rest of this week will be incredibly busy for me as I try to get one of my messiest projects to press by Monday. And to complicate matters, I want to try to get everything in decent shape before I go to New York for my little business trip. I have wonderful co-workers who would be happy to keep my projects in order while I'm away, but I want to make it as painless as possible for them. We'll see how the rest of the week goes.

In theory and if I were smart, I would be in bed right now. I want to get up early and get into the office early to finish what I need to. But I'm feeling a little wired and on edge. So, instead, I'm here writing and having a glass of cognac and just trying to unwind a bit. I don't have that much to say, and I'm not sure if I'm even making any sense, but still I write. I'll probably have to edit this tomorrow...

Current mood: tired
Current music: Loreena McKennitt. An Ancient Muse.
Current drink: Remy Martin VSOP Fine Champagne Cognac

Sights on a Windy Day

Earlier this evening I looked out the window and saw that the clouds were rolling in and starting to get darker. It was getting windy and a light rain started to fall. I decided to run out to get some dinner for myself before the weather got too bad. The wind started to pick up while I was driving, and as I was waiting at a stoplight, suddenly I saw an inner tube rolling down the street. It was then followed by a second, and I half expected a third to fly by with a small child still inside but had no such luck. For a brief history: A lot of people in Boulder like to spend their weekends riding down Boulder Creek in big inner tubes. That explains the presence of inner tubes in the city, but it was still odd to see them rolling down Arapahoe. I continued on my way and noticed that the Home Depot parking lot was full of shopping carts that were scattered and rolling in various directions because they were being pushed by the wind. Fortunately I was able to make it in and out Daphne's without getting drenched by rain or blown away by the wind. And the Chicken Ka-Boob plate with rice and salad was yummy!

Current mood: no complaints
Current music: random selections from my iTunes library -- currently Dave Matthews "Crash Into Me"
Current drink: Silk Soymilk - random, I know, but good for me.

Exhausted

This has been one very exhausting week at work. We knew that we would have two new employees starting in our department on Monday, but we were surprised to learn that a third would also join the team. We're all really excited to have some new people in our department, because we certainly need the help. But anytime you have new employees, it takes a lot of training to get them used to our systems and procedures. Fortunately the people we hired are all very smart and bright and seem to be picking things up very quickly. They are already starting to take on a few projects, and I'm sure it won't be long before they are carrying full loads. So the week was full with training and welcome lunches. But it was also full of unusually and extraordinarily long meetings. Several meetings we had this week lasted about two hours. When you're training all day, having longer-than-usual lunches, and two hour meetings, you don't have much time in the day to do any work on any of your own projects. I was still able to send a book to press and able to send manuscripts or page proofs to authors or freelancers, but I was a little stressed and frazzled as I tried to do any of this. Needless to say, I brought home a huge box of manuscripts and proofs that I need to work on this weekend to make up for time I lost during the week. I guess it will be an exhausting weekend!

But, to blow off some steam and to try to relax a little, a very lovely friend and I spent last night having drinks and dinner. We first went to the Purple Martini and had some appetizers and wine. (We decided to pass on the martinis last night.) We then went to Laudisio, an Italian restaurant, had some more wine, and shared some calamari, a salad, and a bowl of risotto. This had to be the best dinner I ever had in my life! The calamari was perfect, and I can't even find the words to describe the risotto other than "it was heaven." The night was absolutely wonderful. Good wine, good food, good company, and good conversation. It can't get much better.

Current mood: tired
Current music: Tori Amos. Scarlet's Walk

Ensnared

Night falls like a blanket
And Gaia sleeps
By moonlight and shadows we meet
Falling upon a carnal bed
Starving, we feed this hunger
Ravenous, gluttonous
Insatiable...
Hephaestus casts his net
Ensnared, entangled
We are locked together
Mocked by Olympus
Let the gods and goddesses laugh
Or rather
Let them look on with envy
For we are one

Leave the Sigmas at Home!

I think I've written a post about this before, but I just have to write about it again. I must repeat how much I hate it when people use Greek sigmas (Σ) to represent the letter E. People do it all the time in advertising. They use sigmas in movie posters, store signs, business names, you name it. There is a new show on ABC Family called "Greek," and, yes, they are falling into the sigma trap.

Σ does not equal E!! Yes, the Greek lettering might look cool, but it is WRONG! It's WRONG and it's STUPID! And any advertising executive or creative "genius" who comes up with this should be fired! They should be fired and forced to take a real Greek class! IDIOTS...

Current mood: disgruntled
Current music: Holly Brook. Like Blood, Like Honey
Current drink: Barq's Root Beer

Etched with Love

Hot thunder throws peace into chaos
Shaking the shadowed earth
Hypnos takes flight upon black wings
Morpheus descends
Cyprian-born goddess, golden Aphrodite, rises
The winged boy flits and flies behind
With a wry and mischievous smile
I stir and wake
Opening eyes, seeing
A beautiful face, shining,
Etched with love
Your eyes that scatter grace upon me
The gentlest touch sets fire beneath my skin
Rushing, coursing through my blood
Eros, loosener of limbs, irrepressible,
Steals my sight
Deafens my ears with a mad pounding beneath my breast
My mind, awash in a storm...
Rose-fingered Dawn waits
As Athena holds back the hours
And steadies the Night

--just a little poem with a nod to Sappho and Homer

The Lover's Tale

I've been going through a little drought with my own poetry, but here is a small portion from Tennyson's The Lover's Tale that I like.

In that I live, I love; because I love
I live: whate'er is fountain to the one
Is fountain to the other; and whene'er
Our God unknits the riddle of the one,
There is no shade or fold of mystery
Swathing the other

Those first few lines--"in that I live, I love; because I love, I live"--that is how I try to live my life.

Recovery

Fortunately yesterday was a holiday because for most of the day I was feeling under the weather. It is a strange thing with me. I can work hard and work myself into the ground, and I suppose adrenaline and stress keep me going. But once the weekend hits, or, as in yesterday's case, once I have a day off, my body crashes and completely shuts down. This has always happened to me. It happened when I was in school, when I was in grad school, and it happens occasionally now that I'm in the working world. Basically I just get a nasty headache. If you can imagine what it feels like to have an elephant stand on your head while a buzzard tries to pluck out your eyeballs, then you'll pretty much know how I feel when these headaches hit. Whenever this happens I usually just sleep. There have even been times when I slept for three days without moving from my bed. I slept for most of the day yesterday, but managed to crawl out of bed late in the evening to force some toast and juice into my stomach. I even managed to stand outside my apartment to watch the fireworks they were shooting above Folsom Field at CU. The "boom" of the fireworks occasionally rattled my brain, literally, but it was a nice show and pretty to watch. I immediately went back to bed once it was over. I still managed to go to work today in spite of still feeling slightly dizzy in my head. Unfortunately I had too many meetings and too much work to do, otherwise I might have stayed home. I started feeling better through the day, though, and now I'm feeling much better. A little tired, but better. Needless to say, it was a relatively quiet Fourth of July.

Current mood: tired
Current drink: Barq's Root Beer
Current music: Kelly Clarkson. My December. --an awesome CD no matter what the idiots at her record label might have thought!

It's one thing to be a morning person, but...

Work and Travel: Last night I made all of my reservations for my trip to New York. The hotel room is reserved and the flight is booked. When making arrangements for my flight, I was reminded that the biggest problem with flying east is the fact that you lose several hours with the change of time zones. My flight arrives in New York at 1:00 p.m. eastern time, but that means my flight leaves Denver at about 7:30 a.m. So if I want to get to the airport at a reasonable time to check in and make my way through security, it would probably be good to get there around 6:00 a.m. But it gets worse. My best and pretty much only way to get to the airport is by taking a shuttle. In order to get to the airport by 6:00, I have to catch the 5:00 a.m. shuttle. And, naturally, I can't just wake up and step onto a shuttle. I need to wake up at a reasonable time, probably around 3:30 a.m. (MST), to get myself dressed and ready, because once I step off the plane, I have to rush to our New York office to attend a meeting at 3:30 p.m. (EST). Even is you subtract the two-hour time difference, that's still about ten hours of getting ready and travelling. Sigh. Why couldn't their offices be on the west coast?! Oh well. Arriving after 1:00 and having to attend a meeting at 3:30 will be a little rushed and hectic, but I think the people in New York know that we might be running late. I say "we" because another co-worker is also making the trip, but I'm not sure if she will be on the same flight yet. Anyway, all we can do is hope that there won't be any slowdowns through security and that the flight won't be delayed.

And on a random note: a very happy birthday to my beautiful friend. Toto pectore te amo. Mille basia, mea cara!

More Clouds and Sunsets

This and That...

Here is another one of those "this and that" posts...

Workouts: After a few interesting days of intense soreness and the inability to move certain parts of my body, I'm feeling much better. I didn't let my sore muscles slow me down and stuck to my workout plan and routine. Naturally, the more you work out, the less sore you get, so my body is feeling much better these days. I'm feeling better, too, and I've been sleeping great.

Work and stuff: As I've mentioned in a previous post, I'll be going to New York later this month for a business trip. I've already received approval to stay an extra day (to go the Metropolitan Museum), and I'm even more excited because I don't have to use a personal day or vacation day to cover it. The extra night in the hotel will have to come out of my pocket, though, but it will be worth it. Also, to prepare for my trip, I went on a little shopping spree yesterday to buy some nice new work clothes. From what I heard, New York is a little more fashionable than Colorado, so I wanted to try to dress the part...not that I will ever be considered chic and fashionable, but I still want to look nice and impressive. So I bought myself some new "power" clothes. And, okay, I also went to Victoria's Secret to get a few things, but a girl needs "power" underwear to go with the power clothes.

Domestic day: I don't have anything exciting planned for the day today. This will just be one of those domestic days where I try to do things around my apartment--cleaning, laundry, cooking, etc.

That's all...

Current mood: rocking out and empowered in my power underwear...
Current music: Melissa Etheridge. Lucky

Soreness and Business Trips

Soreness: So I'm on the first week of my new health and fitness kick. This latest fitness kick involves a lot of weight lifting. Tonight I'm on the "off" portion of my "3 on-1 off" routine which means that I would work out three days then rest on the fourth day. I was planning on working out every day, but it became a 3 on-1 off routine by default, because I...can't...move...my...body. In a nutshell, I'm feeling a tad sore. Now, back in the good old days when I used to "train" people in weight lifting, I would always tell them to start out slow and to use lighter weights if they haven't trained in a while. It makes good sense. Is that what I do? Of course not. I couldn't possibly take and follow my own advice--do as I say, not as I do! Instead of starting out slow and light, I started out hard and heavy. I put myself through the routine I used to put myself through when I was in the 10th grade. Yes, and right now no one needs to remind me that I was in the 10th grade nearly 17 years ago! No one needs to remind me that I'm not as young and strong as I used to be, because my old and decrepit body speaks for itself. Oh well. It feels bad now, but it will feel much better next week. And another good side effect of working out is that I'm sleeping much better these days, with the one exception of the night I dreamed I was being eaten by a grizzly bear.

Business Trips: Well, it is official. I will be making a business trip out to New York at the end of July. Technically the sales conference/launch I'm going to will last only about three days from July 24 to July 26, and I would come home on the 27th. But, if I can get approval, I might stay an extra day and come back on the 28th instead. I found out that the Metropolitan Museum of Art has a nice collection of Greek and Roman art. Because it is difficult to find Classical exhibits in Colorado, I might as well take advantage of the opportunity while I have it. Plus, I'll be staying at a very nice (and expensive) hotel while I'm there.

Clouds at Sunset

Crazy Dreams

Last night I seemed to have a lot of bad and crazy dreams. The dream I remember most involved camping and a grizzly bear. In my dream I found myself camping with a bunch of people and friends and their identities seemed to change throughout the dream. One minute I was with some friends, another minute I was with other friends. The first strange thing is that I was camping, because I never go camping. We were in tents in an open field and at the edges of this field was a forest of pine trees. Suddenly we saw about three grizzly bears getting into fights with other animals. One minute the animals were female lions, another minute they seemed to be elk. Fortunately my dream wasn't gruesome, and even though they were fighting, it seemed like they were play fighting. The grizzlies, though, were still scary, so we were hiding in our tents hoping that we wouldn't be noticed. Naturally we were noticed, and and a grizzly ripped and tore his way into the tent. We escaped, though, and ran into a nearby cabin. Why we were camping in tents with a cabin nearby is another mystery. We thought we would be safer inside and we were watching the bears through the window. The bears still managed to find us and they also managed a way to break through the window. The bears crawled through the windows and there I was, trapped in a small cabin with what seemed to be a very angry or hungry bear. I manged to wake up at this point, so who knows if I escaped or was eaten. I have no idea what this means or what it says about my subconscious or stress level. All I do know is that I woke up grinding my teeth. Maybe I need to relax more.

Health and Fitness, Part II

I think that every few months I find myself in the middle of a new health kick. I convince myself that I need to eat better and be more active. Yesterday, I decided to take a brisk walk along the Boulder Creek Path. It was just a three-mile walk, round-trip, but it felt nice. So I told myself that I need to do that more often and that, with all of the mountains and trails surrounding me, maybe I should go on more hikes. Feeling this exciting wave of enthusiasm, I thought, "hey, maybe I should join a local gym or athletic club, because they have tons of cardio machines and great weight rooms." So I searched around and was slightly disappointed and annoyed to find that memberships for most of these clubs run about $300 a year. Sorry, I have an editor's salary, so I'm not ready to spend that much money on a club. Although disappointed, I told myself that I should just do what I've always done, work out at home with my dumbbells and free weights. I've always worked out at home with free weights, and I always got results, so if the record ain't broke, why break it. I also remembered that I had a balance ball, you know one of those inflatable balls that people use for yoga or pilates or any of the other trendy exercises these days. I don't use it for yoga or pilates, but I improvise and use it as a workout bench. I took out my balance ball and started to inflate it. Some balance balls come with an electric pump or a foot pump where all you need to do is step on the pump to inflate it. My balance ball came with a hand pump, so the motion of inflating the darn thing essentially amounts to trying to saw a branch off a tree. Eventually I inflated the ball and managed to plug it up without losing too much air. Then I decided to test it out, and because I haven't used it in a while I had to get reacquainted with it. I must first say that I'm a lot like my Ma in the sense that I occasionally have balance problems. I leaned against my "balance" ball and tried to roll back a tad so that I would have my back on top of the ball so that I would be in the position of an imagined bench press. Well, I sort of rolled back too far, rolled out of control, and nearly broke my neck. Okay, maybe that's a slight exaggeration. But, not to be discouraged, I tried it again and managed to stay on the ball the next time. The next test was whether I could find my position on the ball, manage to stay balanced, and use some weights at the same time. And I managed not to kill myself. So, I'm feeling better about the potential of my workout routine. Let's just see if I can keep it up!

Construction, Heat, and More

Construction: I've said something about this in a previous post, but I'll say it again. If Julius Caesar can build a bridge across the Rhine River in ten days, it shouldn't take us over a year to widen one intersection. Why do I write about this a second time? Because it took me about 30 minutes to get home from work today. A 30-minute commute isn't all that bad consider the time that many people spend on the roads commuting. But, a 30-minute commute is annoying when you live less than three miles away. Honestly. Julius Caesar. Man power. Wooden bridge. Only ten days. Us. Man power (that mostly stands around doing nothing). Big, expensive machinery. Almost twelve months, and still no major progress. Thank God Americans these days aren't expected to create grand architectural and cultural monuments like the Parthenon or the Colosseum. The structures would never get finished.

Heat: About six months ago, when we were buried under several feet of snow and stranded at home, people throughout Colorado kept saying how tired they were of winter and how much they were looking forward to warm weather. I'll admit, I was saying the same thing. Spring was nice, but the summer is starting to get hot. Temperatures are starting to climb into the 90s during the day, and things stay fairly warm at night. Sleeping naked is the only way to bring some relief to the nights...and that is probably more information about me than most cared to read about. My little cabin apartment tends to be warmer because I don't have air conditioning, and I haven't bought a fan yet. So my apartment can get quite warm at night. I suppose cooking a steak dinner tonight only added to the inside temperature. ... and maybe the bottle of Zinfandel also adds to the heat a little...

More: Things in general are good. With the exception of one chaotic book, things at work are reasonable and relatively quiet. We see the waves on the horizon, though, so things will probably start to get a tad busier. But we'll just have to take things as they come, and I'm used to riding the waves...metaphorically speaking, of course. Speaking of riding waves. I started writing a new poem that alludes to Odysseus and the Sirens, but I got stuck. Hopefully my Muse will strike me, and once she does I'll post what I end up with.

Current mood: relaxed and stuffed from a big dinner
Current music: Dixie Chicks. Taking the Long Way
Current drink: Ravenswood 2004 Lodi Old Vine Zinfandel

Summer Storms

You can tell that it is officially summer here in Colorado. The morning and early part of the afternoon were beautiful. It was sunny and the temperature was pretty warm. But, as if on cue, some dark clouds started to roll over the mountains right around 2:30 in the afternoon. There was a continuous low rumble of thunder, and eventually the rain started to fall at around 3:00. It rained for about an hour, now things are clear and calm. The temperature certainly cooled off because of the rain, and the air smells wonderful.

I was out shopping before it started to rain, and I wish I had my camera then. I was in a perfect shopping center to take some great pictures of the mountains and the clouds. The clouds were incredibly dark and had a slight greenish tint to it. It was cool and eerie at the same time. But, unfortunately, I had to wait until I got home before I could snap a few pictures. The clouds weren't as dramatic from the point of view of my apartment, but it was still pretty cool.
I was hoping I would be able to capture some lightning in a picture, but I wasn't lucky enough. Besides, I didn't stay outside for long considering lightning has an uncanny way of striking people in Colorado. Maybe it is the elevation. Who knows? All in all, I knew that standing outside in an open parking lot probably wouldn't have been the wisest thing to do. I also didn't want to unsettle certain members of my family and a few of my friends by letting them know that I was standing outside trying to take pictures of lightning. Of course, they would probably suggest that if I really wanted a picture of lightning, I should try taking the picture while flying a kite with a little key attached to the end of it. That would be the advice from my family and friends.