North Boulder Breakdown and Pawnee Pass Trail

Yesterday, while walking Charlie through some of the suburbs of North Boulder, Lauren and I came across some cheery tribal music being played by KIDS in North Boulder Park!

Today, I went through Nederland and Ward, Colorado, to come to the Long Lake Trailhead, which begins the Pawnee Pass Trail. Here's a little of what the drive is like:

The trail was beautiful, full of giant pines and snow-covered mountaintops.

Unfortunately, I did not make it to the end (Pawnee's Peak), which would have made the round-trip length about 11 miles. As I approached the summit, the weather started to turn dark and rainy with a few snatches of lightning and thunder. So, since I don't own any rain gear, and it was already pretty cold, I turned back. But first, I had to find shelter under some trees and eat my sandwich.

I did, however, make it farther than anyone else on the trail that day, which afforded me the opportunity to meet these marmots.

To quote Josh Shelton, who quoted Gene Autry: "Back in the saddle again..."

I feel as though any post attempting to "summarize" the last month or so of our lives would be hopelessly convoluted. So, I'm going to present you with a semi-related, wild-and-crazy combination of paragraph-style prose, categorical lists, and multimedia.


Things I've read, partially read, or am reading:

Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space by Carl Sagan

• As always, Sagan was inspiring in his inclusive, poetic perspective on the cosmos. I briefly became obsessed with Voyager 1 and other unmanned spacecraft.

William James: In the Maelstrom of American Modernism by Robert Richardson

• I will always love Richardson's prose. However, James's story did not grab me in the way of Emerson's and Thoreau's. I'll give it another go, I'm sure.

Thus Spake Zarathustra: A Book for All and None by Friedrich Nietzsche

• I will hold my final judgments until I am finished. At the moment, though, I much prefer Nietzsche's Beyond Good and Evil. Zarathustra seems very heavy-handed... even in its intentional heavy-handedness. 

A Game of Thrones: Book 1 of A Song of Ice and Fire by George R. R. Martin

• David pleaded with me to get into this series for a few months, and I initially resisted. Then, after William James failed to keep my attention, I bought the book and began reading it just a few days ago. So far, it's an immensely pleasurable read. Tyrion Lannister and Eddard Stark are wonderfully rich characters.

I've also become, or am in the process of becoming, an avid hiker. Since I bought my hiking boots and CamelBak just a month ago, I try to go hiking as often as possible. So far, I've (or Lauren and I have) hiked several trails at the Chautauqua trailhead, the Mt. Sanitas trail a few times (a short, but steep little bastard), one trail in Rocky Mountain National Park, and the Sourdough Trail outside of Ward, Colorado. We tried to hike the Glacier Rim Trail, but it was closed. Next Friday, we hope to hike the King Lake Trail outside of Nederland, Colorado.

Goal for the next month: Go on a 3-night hiking trip in the Rawah Wilderness. Once my Suddenlink refund comes in, I plan to get my multi-day pack from REI, construct my homemade Super Cat Alcohol Stove, and get going! Here's to my survival! And, if not, may my corpse feed the animals and fertilize the earth!

A little update

What's in the hopper?


We're going to an Ingrid Michaelson concert in October for Lauren's birthday. And, Mark Twain Tonight! is coming to Boulder around the same time!


Fun for Lauren


Lauren is still kickin' it at Boulder Montessori School. Some days she loves it; some days she hates it.

She's auditioning for a play, Rabbit Hole, this weekend at Longmont Theatre. Everyone wish her luck!


School for Ryan

So, I'm three weeks into graduate school, and it's going pretty well. I think it's too early to tell whether or not I "love" the world of academia, but we will see.

My American Lit class is, of course, greatly interesting and relevant in relation to my hazy ideas concerning Whitman, metonymy, the American Myth, and the American re-remembering of the past, which I hope to eventually gather into something coherent. For next Tuesday, I will be leading the discussion on The Blithedale Romance, so here goes!

My Chaucer class has produced moments of inspiration, mostly due to the fact that the professor leading the class is currently writing a book on metonymy and recursion, both of which I find very sexy. Still, the minutia of the manuscripts and the paleography are things I'm struggling to attach to any personal zeal.

My Theory class is fresh and engaging, due in large part to my comparative ignorance of the majority of the subject matter. Every now and again, we are using Alfred Hitchcock and Wes Craven movies as illustrative models for specific critical theories, which is fun.

A final note


Anyone feel free to call us anytime. We miss everyone, so it would certainly be welcome.

Casa Bonita--Spanish for "what the f@ck!?"

Yes, this is the restaurant from South Park. The one of such hedonistic splendor that it drives Cartman to carry out an elaborate end-of-the-world hoax in order to lure Butters down into a bomb shelter, effectively taking his then-vacant spot at Kyle's birthday party (pictured below).

Yesterday, Lauren, Peg, and I traveled to Lakewood, Colorado, just outside of Denver, and discovered this outlandish Tex-Mex eatery right square in the middle of a very nondescript strip mall (Casa Bonita is flanked by a Dollar Tree and a Hollywood Video, though the creators of South Park portray it flanked by a 97 Cent Store and a Peter's Pit Stop). For a mere $14, one can purchase an All-You-Can-Eat Beef Deluxe Dinner, which consists of Grade F beef, stale tortillas, soggy tacos, and a generous helping of liquid cheese. But wait! If you think you're getting screwed, think again!

How about All-You-Can-Eat Sopapillas? How about daring cliff divers, wild gunfights, Black Bart's Cave, and a man in a gorilla suit!? Still not sold? Well, me neither, but it's off the bucket list!

I drove to Estes Park, and all I got was a broken heart

Lauren, Peg, and I took an exceedingly scenic drive to Estes Park, Colorado, along Highway 36 out of Boulder. Estes Park is home to the Rocky Mountain National Park Headquarters, The Stanley Hotel (known as The Overlook Hotel in Stanley Kubrick's adaptation of The Shining), and several upscale ski resorts.

Needless to say, the drive was gorgeous--foothills turning into mountains, mountainsides covered in mature pine trees, and cool, crisp mountain air.Toward the end of the drive, I was beginning to fall in love with the area. The chill wind began to bring a drop in temperature, and the outside air just beyond the open window of our black Jeep smelled of strong pine trees, pure lumberjack towns where everything is simultaneously of the hip man and the everyman, and the cool breezes of Louisiana holidays. I find myself thinking, "This is where I want to live for the rest of my life!"

... And then, we arrived in Estes Park. There was never a greater congregation of all things touristy and hokey--Grandma's Mountain Cookies, Mrs. Something's Fudge Shoppe, and Mr. Something's Salt Water Taffy. As we slowly drove through the downtown area, a great feeling of loss began to swell within my chest. This place sucks!

Still, I know it's out there! Perhaps the next town over? Or the next town? Or the next town? I will find it! Who's with me!?

Either way, I think next time we'll stick with the National Forest--its bears, elks, and dirt--as opposed to the actual town--its fudge, caramel apples, and people-packed streets.

You ever feel as though you were born for greatness?

The Beau Jo's Challenge

This place is only a few hundred feet from my house. Rest assured, whoever comes to visit first, whether it be Dad, Jason, Shelton, Will, or Mark, he will take this challenge with me! The 14lb pizza!

Shakespeare Outdoors and Out West!

Last night (August 8th), Lauren and I went to the final showing of King Lear at the Colorado Shakespeare Festival, which is largely held at the Mary Rippon Outdoor Theatre on the university campus (pictured below). Typically, everyone enjoys a picnic out on the lawn beforehand (they even sell the Bard's BBQ), the artistic director delivers a brief talk before the beginning of the show, then you grab a beer and take your seat.

This performance of King Lear took place in the American West of the late 19th century, with King Lear portrayed as a larger-than-life oil baron à la Paul Thomas Anderson's There Will Be Blood (pictured below). At first, I was hesitant about this choice, seeing as how I've always thought the pre-Roman setting of the traditional King Lear wonderfully amplified the themes of bestiality and blindness. However, the "interpretation" was restricted entirely to the setting and costumes (making it a fresh, yet unobtrusive addition), and a stellar performance by John Hutton as King Lear anchored a solid, albeit imperfect cast. All in all, it was a compelling show, and we will certainly be back next year.