Monthly Archives: July 2010

Saturday Adventure

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12 hour skate adventure. I met up with Nate, Jason, Neil, and Glen somewhere between 2-3pm. First to Broomfield park.

After checking out the prairie dogs, we warmed up and skated for probably 2 hours. Next, off to Denver…
On the way up we past a cool guy being cool.

Once we got there, we spent at least 2 hours in this alley…

Then to another alley with a tall white ledge… until it was too dark.

Then just a few quick spots.

After skating we ate (obviously) and then headed to the premier of the new transworld video at some bar called Tooey. It was a small, packed bar, and after climbing up on an island, I actually got a clear view of the screen. Good times.

Then the walk back to the car..

…and a stop at a diner on the way home.

Then home and to bed. Sometime after 3am.

RIP ridge.

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Throughout the last week or so, I’ve seen the most depressing videos and photos of the ridge. The ridge was a foundation spot just north of the city in Baltimore, with different levels and so many awesome things that people built there over the years. It was also a cool spot to skate, and everyone always seemed to leave us skaters alone. Sometimes it was empty and other times packed; there were days with demos or contests and even barbeques.

I found some photos I’ve taken there in the past…

…and a super old clip of styles…

…and an old clip of me…

I had some more recent footage… but I blew it on collecting it.

And now, sadly enough, it’s gone. Here are some photos I stole via facebook from Shawn Wixted. (Hopefully he doesn’t mind… I just couldn’t help myself, he takes amazing photos)

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Design Expo

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Today was the final day of the two week Engineering Projects class I’ve been teaching for GoldShirts, a cohort of incoming college freshman to the engineering department here at CU. The job of lead instructor was a ton of work… far more than I planned… but it was so much fun. The students were awesome, and their energy and hardwork made the class really enjoyable to teach. Today was their design expo, and they were able to show off all the work they did to the multiple judges, some parents, and whoever else trickled through. As for me, I listened to all the presentations and then stood back and watched proudly.

The Building Process
The Testing Process
The Expo

And that was that. The winner was announced while I scrambled to finish grades… that didn’t get finished until the BBQ was started. I guess I’ll have to email them out. The job is just never over…

Folk and Bluegrass Hoedown… Boulder style

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Josh, a fellow CU grad student that I’ve had classes with and occasionally see around the lab, threw a big birthday party/concert at his farmhouse east on Arapahoe. It was a great excuse to be outside all evening, drinking, eating, and just enjoying the summer.

we came…
…with beer
first band
there was cake…
…and a composting toilet

Awesome night. Thanks to LP for taking some of the pho

tos!

Just Another Hot Summer Week in CO

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I think it’s been over 90 every single day. Joy. I really miss Matunuck. Every morning I wake up and keep straining to hear some waves crashing and to know I can just roll out of bed and into the ocean. But no… I just roll out of bed in my bedroom which is easily 90 degrees all the time now and rely on the shower to wake me up. And to make things even better, I woke up feeling like crap with a nice summer cold Monday morning.

Most of my time and energy this week has been dedicated to teaching the Engineering Projects Class for the GoldShirts Summer Bridge, which is a bridge program for an incoming cohort of freshman engineering students to CU. I was a little nervous to work with some older students after working with middle school students all year, but it’s been great. It reminds me of my teaching experience in Baltimore and makes me miss all those students even more. Here are some of my students for this week and next:

Their second day was a challenge… within the 2 hour class, they were given some materials (including 2 pizza boxes, aluminum foil, black poster paper, bubble wrap, cotton balls, a plastic bag and some tape), 25 minutes to design, and about 50 minutes to build a solar oven prototype and clean up. Here’s a few of the results:

The next day the students put their solar ovens outside with a HOBO stick and a probe to measure and the temperature inside the solar oven as it sat out for about an hour and a half.
One more week with these students… I can’t wait to see their final products.
Other than work, my week started off slow. Monday and Tuesday I went to sleep at probably 8pm because of my cold. A little lame, but I’ve never kicked a cold as fast as this one. By Wednesday, I made it to yoga, and on Thursday, I drove up to the new Broomfield park with Jason to meet up with Glen, John, Nate, Jack, Fuzz, Brian, and Neil. Glen

 took notes on everyone’s performance. It was hot and crowded, but an awesome session.

Friday was a pretty chill day… not as much planning for the class I’m teaching. The girls in the lab decided to throw a mini birthday party for our advisor. Everyone pitched in and we surprised him in another professor’s office.
Nate’s going away party at the pool in his apartment complex. So rad. We made a scene playing in the pool after dark with beer cans, a noodle, and a soccer ball. Before the party was completely broken up, Brian decided it was time to get Nate in the face with a pie. Somehow the pie was handed to me, and I planted it in Nate’s face, full force.
I enjoyed every second of it, but being the way I am, I apologized to Nate for it afterwards multiple times. He swore that he loved it. Even so, after that incident, we all made a swift exit to 29th Street Tavern. I left my camera in the car until Glen told me to go get.
Typical curse of a Friday night… I almost fell asleep at the bar and couldn’t finish my first beer. Oh well… soon it was off to bed. Weekend mission: packing up and moving out of Gunbarrel.

Back in Boulder… and a visit from SF

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My first day back in town was LP’s birthday. Thankfully it was something to be psyched about because I was trying to overcome depression caused by leaving RI and the beach so soon. Just one more day, one more seaview sandwich, one more clamcake to dunk in some clam chowder, one more barefoot walk to the Mist… I wish.

So… back to LP’s birthday! I met her and her parents at the Rio for some margs. There were quite a few others that showed up also. We drank, passed around some silly bandz (my new favorite obsession), and told stories of vans and other things.

The birthday girl. (notice the silly bandz)
Kyle modeling his new silly bandz… and the one he broke
Once the parents left, the shots came out. LP post tequila shot. Happy Birthday!

Wednesday was not so exciting… although I did make it to yoga for the second day in a row and went grocery shopping. So really, it was a huge day. And sometime late at night, Gordon made it to Boulder from San Francisco on Reed’s motorcycle. Even though it’s July and the weather is usually 90 degrees or above, it was actually about 60 at most and raining that week, so Gordon’s ride was probably not too pleasant.

Thursday was a challenge knowing that the Trick Factory was already meeting up to hang out with our visitor. I left work a little earlier than usual and met up with the guys at Fuzz’s house in Broomfield.

Reed and Gordon… beaming the camera
Jason’s license picture became the new topic of discussion… Brian is busy though.
Just can’t get over the photo….

We finally got our act together and headed to the Broomfield park to skate around for a bit. I felt a mess at first, but eventually got into it and boardslid the mellow down rail. Everyone ripped (of course) and Gordon bullied everyone into challenges that he backed by easily carving over the stairs in the pool, ollying the double set and boardsliding the big rail. After skating I met back up with Jason, Brian, Gordon, Lazer and his girlfriend Mary Kate at the Dark Horse for some greasy food and beers.

The next day was Friday and I couldn’t leave work soon enough. Out to Longmont this time, and just like the day before, met up with the crew to sit around and drink beer. I also had my first motorcycle lesson. I learned how to start Reed’s bike and shift from neutral to first, let it roll and then brake. I was so excited, but when I tried to show off what I learned, I did everything backwards, stalled out and then almost dropped the bike. Oops. Better luck next time. Before too long, it was timing for eating (obviously). We headed to Efrains…

Guys and bikes… everything out of focus
Too serious? Jam looks pissed.
Now they’re happy.
Fuzz (notice the silly band?)
Gordon introducing Jam to silly bandz
Brando eats a lot.
Lazer checking out the silly bandz
Nobody taught Brandon that you’re not supposed to play with food… his tortilla and salsa creation.
Fuzz was surprised to find out dinner was in honor of his birthday!
Everyone came out to sing to him…
…and he was psyched!

Later that night I made it to Catacombs to meet up with Fuzz, Reed, and Gordon. Although we made a few attempts to go somewhere else, we just stayed at Catacombs and let people come to us… and they did. The party didn’t really start, though, until we hopped on a party van that took us back to Reed’s house. We played indoor soccer for hours… knocking things off the wall left and right. The game dwindled, and I listed to Dan play the keyboard and then beat everyone at Wii bowling. After a long night of craziness and a full house slumber party, I managed to convince Gordon to ride me downtown at 9am on Reed’s motorcycle to get car before it got ticketed. What a good guy!

Later in the day, once everyone actually rolled out of bed, we grabbed some bagels at Moe’s and Jamba Juice. I did managed to throw water all over the place while trying to grab my sunglasses, which people in line behind me didn’t really appreciate.

Back to Reed’s and then adventure time. We decided to head down to Golden for the Coors Factory tour. I was planning on catching a ride on the back of a motorcyle, but it was for the best that I just drove with Reed in his car.

The coolest part of the factory… except the lounge where we got free samples.
Gordon was allowed in to the factory as an exception.

During our day of adventure, Fuzz was having a different type of day. He had to put down his 8-year old cat Sassy. He invited us all over for a BBQ/memorial. We took a scenic route to Broomfield to be there for him on a rough day.

All seriousness aside, Reed demonstrated his wedgie machine.
RIP Sassy.

Exhausted from the night before, I left the BBQ, went straight home and to bed. I woke up Sunday morning with a sore throat. Uh oh. I ignored the though of getting sick and called Gordon about breakfast. We met up at the Southside Walnut Cafe, and Jam came to meet us. Mid-order, Jake sat down with us, and Lazer and MK showed up a little bit later. Everyone seemed to go their separate ways and somehow I suckered Gordon into shopping with me for materials for the Projects course I’m teaching this week and next. After 4 stores, a stop at Jamba Juice and a stop at Barnes and Noble, we met up again with Lazer and MK, and Brian, at Harpos for Gordon’s last meal and beers in town. So long… always good to have visitors!

(Side note: I woke up this morning sick as a dog. Bummer. Guess I had a little too much fun this past weekend.)

Beachin' it in RI

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Aah. Absolutely nothing better in the whole world than being home in Rhode Island on the beach in Matunuck during the summer. While I was home, one of my friends asked me if I still consider myself a local. I know in beach communities around the world, RCB and Matunuck in general being no expection, the term “local” is not tossed around lightly. And I admit I haven’t lived in SK year round since I was 14, although until last year I spent a good portion, if not the entire time, of each summer in RI on the beach at RCB. So yes… I still consider myself a local. And more than based on time spent there, I really do consider South County, RI to be my one true home… regardless of where I’m living. (Ironic that I completed my in-state application today in which I had to write a paragraph about why I consider Colorado to be my permanent home… oh well).

So back to my trip… I kinda blew it on taking all the photos I intended on, but I’ll work with what I got. Wednesday morning was my first morning waking up in the beach house to the sounds of gentle waves crashing on the shore… real gentle in fact. The waves that were there the day before were long gone and not to be seen again on this trip. I also woke up to my mom coming in around 8am. So I called Clay and woke him up, and the three of us went out to breakfast. We picked Clay up at his house… which is coming along. He is basically redoing the entire house and has plenty of work cut out for him. That includes the above-ground pool left behind in rough shape from the previous owners. Right now he has a nice collection of tadpoles at all stages of life…
I spent the rest of the day on the beach, leaving only to visit my friend Ama and to have dinner with her parents and sister Aurelia. We gossiped until it got too late… and then back to the beach for me. So good to see them.
Thursday was another day spent on the beach… although it almost became a chore with the extreme temperature differences caused by the sun popping in and out of clouds. The wind didn’t help much… and this turned out to be the only day during the entire trip that I didn’t go in the ocean. That night, my mom and I went to the Ocean Mist for some 2-4-1 mexican dinners and a beautiful view on the back deck…
I stuck around long enough to see a crew… including the Ocean Mist softball team.
Friday started early when I picked up my cousin Brian at the airport around 8am. Clay, Brian, and I got some breakfast at the Ocean Mist and watched the Brazil v. Netherlands soccer game. We sat on the beach for a bit until Clay left for work, and Brian and I headed back to the Mist for drinks and the Ghana v. Uruguay game.
Lots of Mist… lots of soccer. That night was fireworks… and they were so close to my deck it made for perfect seating. The fireworks were also so close to the ground, it was a little scary. But after the 15 minute performance, I can honestly say it was not the worst year of fireworks at RCB.

Saturday was the Samson family clambake!! A big day. I made it over to the farm first to meet up with my parents…

…then it was off to Wesport.

Sunday was a gorgeous beach day…and the 4th of July! I got a good start to the day by hitting up the RCB pancake breakfast with my mom just before the end. Special thanks to Zimma for the delicous pancakes!
Then it was straight to the beach… and I wore my 4th of July outfit for the big day.

While on the beach, my mom and I went paddle boarding. Its the biggest new trend in RI (besides silly bandz), and my mom got really into it last summer.

I wanted to get some more photos, but I went out and paddle boarded with her, instead of getting more photos. We paddled across RCB and back down to the 5 houses… and practiced a little yoga. The water was pretty choppy, but even so, my mom was sooooo close to getting a headstand. Next time.
I also managed to get an invite to the Wilson family clambake… and event I’ve tried to crash for years. The apps were delicious, as was the main course (and all the dark ‘n stormies I was drinking)!

Later that night I caught a glimpse of a beautiful sunset over the pond by the Arcand’s house…

 …and then watched 10 different sets of fireworks go off at the same time along the coastline with Clay. Liz and Steph came over and we all headed down to a massive bonfire on the beach with generations from age 16 to 50. Unfortunately a cop came down and told us to put out the fire… apparently there are no open fires allowed in Rhode Island. Lame. A few people relit the fire a little while later only to almost get in a huge altercation with the next cop sent down to deal with us… but by then I was long gone. We regrouped around the Lucas’s house and later made our way to the store. I think it was my first time hanging out at the store since it was moved years ago… and I still haven’t set foot inside. The most exciting point in the night was the “luna” moth we found…

… and when Amelia finally won a game that I had decided was impossible. Basically you stand a dollar on the ground, balance on one foot and pick up the dollar in your mouth. So impossible, but I saw it happen! Once the crowd dwindled down sometime between 2:30 and 3am, I made my way

home for my last night falling a sleep to the gentle sound of waves crashing on the shore.
Monday already… my last day at home. It was unbelievable hot. My mom arrived at the house early, and later my dad showed up with his friend and the fresh blueberries they had just picked. We threw together a feast of blueberry pancakes, eggs, bacon, toast, juice and coffee, and my cousin Barbara, my mom’s friend Anne, and Liz all showed up for my last breakfast of the trip. After Liz and I walked to the Mist, only to turn around and walk back to the beach almost instantly.
I spent the remainder of my day on the beach and in the ocean, to cool my skin that felt like it was on fire from the intense sun. My friend Jordan showed up just as I was packing and offered to take me to the airport. After a quick stop at Seaview for an amazing seaview sandwich and some silly bandz (I’m set on personally introducing this trend to the state of Colorado), we drove up to Warwick and that was that. Vacation over.

SICK… and home for vacation!

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I woke up to a rude awakening Saturday morning… so sick! How did this happen? Was I hung over? I felt fine the night before… sure I drank a lot of wine at the dinner party at my advisor’s house, but I was fine to drive home… and I even did things around the house once I got home. So what happened? Was it that I didn’t really drink much water at all on the previous 95-degree day? Or maybe it was a mistake to not really before the dinner party and start drinking on a practically empty stomach while I endulged in the delicious appetizers? Who knows…

What I do know is that I woke up feeling so sick, so dehydrated, terrible headache, and threw up before I could get myself in the shower and out the door to make it to Harpos to watch the USA v. Ghana soccer game. I was convinced that a bloody mary would snap me back into shape, but once I got one I could barely drink it at all. I did manage to eat a grilled cheese and some french fries and drink a couple glasses of water… only to throw that all up before the game was over in the bathroom. After watching the USA get knocked out in overtime, I made it back home and crawled into bed. By this time I was in so much pain in my stomach that I couldn’t move. It hurt worse everytime I leaned the slightest bit to one side or the other. When my roommate came home around 9pm, he filled up my glass with water and gave me a sleeping pill… probably the only reason I was put out of my misery for the night.

The next day I was able to eat some dim sum (although I was much more cautious than my last dim sum adventure), but was sluggish and out of it in general. I spent the rest of the day with Jenn, and when she gave me some dinner, I could only stomach the summer squash and peas on the plate. By Monday, I figured I was back to normal… that was until it took me about 3 hours to eat a bagel with cream cheese. Before my flight home, I got dinner with Lazer and his girlfriend Mary Kate at the Gondolier, and drank a beer with the food. Apparently it was a big mistake. I felt sicker and sicker throughout the night and my first flight. When it landed in Newark, I had to book it to the bathroom where I threw up. In fact I made about 3 more trips to the bathroom during the 2 hour layover to throw up. Not fun. When I finally was finished and waiting to board my flight,  I found a quiet spot along the wall to sit down away from everyone else… that is, until some kid with a paper puke bag from the airplane walked over with his family… and then he puked right in front of me! Did I happen to choose a designated spot for sick travelers or was my face just screaming this is a perfect place to throwup?? Ugh.

Anyways… the 2nd flight was super short and wasn’t as bad. I think I may have even slept for about a half hour. And I was finally in Rhode Island!!

My mom picked me up at the airport with the two dogs Beau and Brigus, and then we headed down to the beach where my aunts Marcia and Anne and my cousin Daria met us for a beautiful beach day.
the view from the deck
the waves were actually big enough to see break right from the house

I managed to eat 2 pieces of toast and tried to drink a lot of water and gatorade to calm my raging stomach. The only time it didn’t hurt was when I was swimming in the ocean oddly enough.

And finally it was time for my much anticipated trip to Aunt Carrie’s for some clamcakes and clam chowder. Anne, Daria, my mom and I met my dad at the restaurant and indulged….

…just what I’ve been dreaming about for so long. So good!

It was the first time I felt full in days… and somehow I managed to keep down all the food I ate. I got back to the beach and I was in a daze from not sleeping then night before and just stuffing my painful, shrunken stomach with delicious greasy fatty food. Needless to say, I passed out really early that night. But before I did, I took a couple photos on the beach…

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Nothing too special… but at the same time amazing just because how psyched I am to be here right now.