freezin'...

sorry about the eleven day lapse...

my weather pixie says it's -4 degrees right now. and weather.com shows a -15 wind chill.

i do not want to go out. however, it may not be avoidable. see, like a dummy, i haven't finished my xmas shopping. i may go to a couple places in the early morning tomorrow, but i also have the chance to not fight any crowds if i do some late night spending today. Foley's is open 'til midnight and there's usually not that many people if you go there after 9PM when they're doing the 'open late' thing.

damn watch.

i bought a cute watch for lois that has all her 'good watch' qualities: large face, no frilliness/teeny diamonds, and either a stainless steel band (she's allergic to nickel) or leather strap. it's ready to go...not.

of course, i bought the damn thing without tooling around with it. now, had i done that, i would have found out that this 'good' watch has a really shitty pin to adjust the time. it's totally slick and nearly impossible to turn. so...i gotta take it back. sigh

really though, i'm not short that many gifts. just a few. easily doable...for someone motivated ;) it'll get done...even if i have to pay someone else to do it heh.

hope you're all staying warm and entertained because this posting sure ain't curing cold temps or boredom.

see ya.

not hungover...

just parched. PCL's xmas party was last night. luckily, susie's husband was driving, allowing lois and me a bit more imbibing ;)

it was at the downtown hyatt...a couple hundred people...mostly old friends...good food (rare roast beef, chicken, salmon, caesar salad, huge dessert spread) although not as varied as years past.

three bartenders...two were great...the gal in the corner though? poor thing, she may as well have not had arms - she was SO slow :(...AND she had the shortest line!

wTf? what am i doing up at 7 in the a.m. blogging about this stuff? more water and back to bed ;)

we'll continue this chat sometime this afternoon...

so full...

i'm about to burst. yep, we finally made the turkey that had been hogging up the freezer for a couple weeks. add some peas, yellow squash, wild rice stuffing, a baked yam, jellied cranberry sauce (my favorite), and you have one happy and stuffed spencer. now, where's the pumpkin pie?

wow. i can't believe that i neglected my blog for more than three weeks. sorry. i know i get into non-blogging funks for a week or two. and i know i've gone three weeks before, but i don't recall going more than that...

well, have any of you started yer holiday cards? unbelievably, i had this year's cards, addressed and ready to fill, prepared immediately after last xmas. i had a few extra boxes of cards and started on them when i took inventory of who returned a card. i know that sounds funny, but after a couple years of sending them to just about everyone in my address book and only getting a percentage reciprocated, i decided to take inventory. there's about three dozen who will be my 'permanent' list. as for the rest, it means i've saved about five minutes of my time and 37 cents postage.

i'm very particular when i write holiday cards. i try to personalize each one to the recipient and talk about the things that are important in their lives as well as the common things that we base our rapport. i abhor nothing more than a generic card that is sent to everyone, detailing the things that the Smiths did this year...ugh...barf. why don't you just blog about it and send us the url? to me, i find it incredibly insensitive and lazy...

so, i did manage to finish about a dozen cards that i'll send out tomorrow. just two dozen more...

they'll hafta wait until tomorrow though...i hear a wedge of pumpkin calling me.

she wants me to write...

something. hee hee.

somethin' to do...

following cindi's path...albeit a week late ;)

Name THREE of your...

* Pet Peeves: asshole drivers, rude people, the growing cavalier attitude of the general population (howzabout some humility?)
* Favorite Sounds: music, laughter, rustling leaves
* Favorite Flavors of Candy: ANY dark chocolate, gummi bears, reese's peanut butter cups
* Biggest Fears: failure, dying in a fire, health of parents
* Biggest Challenges: fear of failure, procrastination, staying focused
* Favorite Department Stores: Target, Foley's, does BigLots! count?
* Most Used Words: "whatever, you moron"
* Favorite Pizza Toppings: sausage, mushroom, pepperoni
* Favorite Cartoon Characters: Tom & Jerry, Bugs Bunny
* Movies Recently Watched: Bourne Supremacy, Shark Tale, Motorcycle Diaries
* Favorite Fruits: pears, cherries, watermelon
* Favorite Vegetables: corn, peas, carrots

overrated...

alright cindi, went to Pat's yesterday and was a bit disappointed. food was good, but the prices were a bit high and the guys working the counter were acting like they had much better things to do than serve lowly me a small mushroom and cheese philly. methinks we need to meet at Taste of Philly for our next foodie outing ;)

BigLots is a baa-aad place. you walk in for one thing and end up buying five or six bags of things you 'can't live without.' granted, that often happens wherever you go, but the buying spree is compounded by the lower prices.

ah well, i don't care. i know i can use those 75% off halloween knicknacks...next year. ooh, i did get a box of halloween truffles that were half off. mmm...they're orange. i love chocolate truffles. strange is that the same truffles were being sold in red and green wrappers...as xmas truffles...but remained orange flavored.

what a great day! i wish this weather would stick around for another month. i'm never ready for cold and/or snow. still, i could think of worse places...

oh yeah, we did finally get in a cheapie last night. we caught the last showing of the BourneSupremacy. it was good. plenty of action although some of it was jaw rattling. sometimes it's difficult to watch a movie when the camera is shaking so hard. car chase at the end almost rivals that of the FrenchConnection. sure, i bet there have been some pretty cool ones in recent movies, but this one didn't look like anything was computer generated. then again, they're good at faking that too ;)

ooh, more cheapies. ManchurianCandidate...I,Robot...and Shrek2 again. pass the popcorn.

bright lights...

big city.

well, not that huge.

yes, we finalized the plans for our post-xmas trip to Vegas. although it's not one of our usual destinations, it'll be nice to get away and see some friends. if you don't recall, lois' friend, Peggy, has planned a 50th b-day party for her husband at CharliePalmer steakhouse, which is located in the Four Seasons Hotel, right above Mandalay Bay.

and after a week of research and deciding, we got a four night package for $299 through worryfreevacations.com. we'll be staying at the Luxor, which is right next door to Mandalay Bay. i'm glad we settled on the Luxor though. for the money, it was probably the best deal with convenience thrown in. i guess i'll have to stay intrigued with the $175/night specials that occasionally are offered for Treasure Island's Tower Suites...or the Orleans $60/night mini-suites for a bit longer ;)

i wish...

i forgot to tell you about a recent trip to the ATM. a couple weeks ago, before we went to Santa Fe and Monte Vista, Lois and I stopped by what used to be the Bank of Cherry Creek (i don't know its new name) and got some money from their drive up ATM.

well, you know how some people inadvertently leave their receipt. in a hurry...don't want to be bothered with another sheet of paper...etc. during the transaction, i pulled this person's receipt out and handed it to lois - nothing out of sorts - and she put it in my glove compartment.

last week, i was pulling out my trusty film canister of quarters out of the glove box when i came upon the long forgotten receipt. apparently, this person ain't hurtin' for anything. i looked at his/her balance and had to do a double take. whomever has an account ending in 6828 at this bank, has $152,838.39 left. geez, must be nice...

you cain't always get whatchu want...

and i want that big eared smirking chimp outta office. gawd, we are so screwed... we can only hope that he can't possibly do any worse the next four years. gee, mebbe he can add another zero to that half trillion dollar deficit; seems like the biggest deficit is between those massive ears...fu-uck!

other than that, at least everything else i voted for...passed. i'm really psyched about FasTracks. it's something that we should have tried to implement about ten years ago, when the population started exploding around here. we are in such need of a rapid transit system. i only wish we had some super fast trains like the bullets in japan and europe; riding the train between Madrid and Seville was so cool...and smooth. look at the subway system in mexico city - cheap, fast, and convenient. trust me...in a metropolitan area with about 20 million people, driving is a TOTAL nightmare. their Metro is one of the best things about the city...

hey cindi, what about those Jeffco voters? i cannot believe that they finally came through on the school bonds and mill levies? i bet you had a total sigh of relief this morning when the numbers came out...yay!

best thing about today being the 'day after'...no more freakin' ads. hallelujah! hell yessssssss.

where's the line?!?

earlier this afternoon, i took my parents to vote. boy, what luck! there weren't but a few people ahead of them. WTF! when i went to vote early last week, i waited more than two hours!!! of course, it was the first time i voted early. i should've known that the lines would be much shorter today since there are more polling precincts...hee haw.

ah well. at least all those damn campaign ads will go away after today. they were really starting to get on my nerves...three weeks ago! there was just no escaping this mudslinging gala, ugh.

like...totally

get out there and check out the total lunar eclipse. it'll be the last (total) one until March 2007. it's going to peak from 8:23 PM until 9:45 PM for those of you in the Mountain Time Zone...

gonna be that spooky red color...just in time for Halloween!

like a morgue...

in here. sorry about that. you guys didn't miss much anyway ;)

yes, we did go to Santa Fe and returned through Monte Vista. a quick couple days, but well worth it.

on saturday night, Antonio wasn't available so we hung out in the room for a bit and watched a dog show on the telly. i think it was like the Eukanuba nationals or something. geez, it was long - 3 hours. we only watched the first two hours and finally headed out for dinner at Castro's.

ha...right.

before we set out, i checked the phone book for their phone number...(505)438-0146...and address...997 W. Rodeo Rd.

and that's where things went wrong.

i called to see how late they were open - 9PM - giving us roughly 50 minutes. however, trusting the yellow pages listing, i didn't confirm the address, which is really 3512 W. Rodeo Rd.

yep. i drove for nearly twice as long, looking for the wrong address. by the time we called them (and they answered), they were 15 minutes from closing. we relented and ended up eating at a Carrow's (a Denny's type joint with better food) on the way back to the motel.

grrr...of course, i had jotted down the correct address in a notebook that i had brought, but left in the car. talk about adding insult to injury.

so, it wasn't meant to be. the next day, when Antonio returned our call, we found out that Castro's was about a ten minute drive from the motel. we even passed by it! but look at the numbers...Rodeo Rd. runs east/west, so we were looking for the restaurant on the north side, since it ended in an odd number...when its location is on the south side of the road (3512). ah well, Antonio told us that it still may have been hard to find because they don't always have their sign on...

even screwier is that Yahoo! has Castro's listed at the incorrect address as well. i found the correct address before we left...on Mapquest.

anyway, we did hang out with Antonio for a few hours on Sunday. he stopped by the room and we chatted for about an hour before we headed to Guadelupe Cafe (since Castro's is closed on Sundays), in downtown Santa Fe. not as good though, even though you would think so since we waited a half hour for a table. the red chile, while HOT as hell, didn't have much depth. it was just extremely garlicky and pure fire.

Cindi, we did pass by yer favorite place though. Antonio said he had never been to Tecolote's, but that he'd try it and update me ;)

sleepy...

no, make that downright snoozy. i really should be getting to bed, but i also need to blog...even if it's gonna put you to sleep too.

the past few days have been both up and down...

wednesday started out on a good note. went to Mervyns for some jeans and came out with three shirts and a fleece blanket as well. dontcha love it when you go into the store for one thing and come out with three or four more bags of groceries? or isn't it always you go expressly for that item and inadvertently forget it. happens all the time, eh?

anyway, it was after i got home from shopping when the rollercoaster ride started. i had received a somewhat cryptic call from a friend of a friend. jane, a friend of karneko (pseudonym), had called and left a message asking me to immediately call karneko. of course, when i called karneko's number, jane answered and informed me that karneko had died over the weekend. wow...i was not expecting that.

stunned, i called mutual friends, the whole time sharing our total devastation over her passing. it was not a pretty scene. for the first two friends, i stayed composed and explained what had occurred - she passed in her sleep. however, by the time i called the third friend, Cindy (the one that i see $.50 movies with), my voice was cracking...completely breaking down when she let out a wail and started bawling on the phone.

isn't it strange when unexpected deaths arise? terminal illnesses are one thing - you just endure and keep the rosy outlook...but the healthy (or seemingly so) ones who are there one day and gone the next...sigh...talk about throwing you for a loop.

well, an hour after my conversation with Cindy, i had a pizza date. this time with a Cindi :)

the rollercoaster car had definitely zoomed up from its nadir. the couple hours spent with Cindi were great. we talked about everything from our blogs to family to occupations to movies to travel; just about everything under the sun. she is SO cool...so down-to-earth...and has a beautiful smile. it's kinda funny, but after reading her blog for a year, Cindi is what i imagined her to be...really. i can't wait to meet again over a yummy meal ;)

cleaning house...

not literally though. even if it sure could use it. no, i'm talking about changing my daily blog reads. there are a couple blogs on there that are now officially dead. i guess the blog fire has been extinguished for them... look for a couple new ones in the next few days; as soon as i get permission to blogroll them.

i probably should add some links too. although none of you may find the sites that i visit very interesting, it may provide a little more insight to my surfing habits.

glad to see that Cindi has a clear schedule this week. we can finally meet for pizza!!! yay! it is such a guilty pleasure for me since lois' self-control is much stronger than mine. you would not believe how she can swear off things; you never have to twist my arm.

so how does tomorrow look, Cindi? i'll be sending you an email here shortly.

been checking out accomodation prices in Vegas for the end of december. lois' good friend, Peggy, is staging a 50th birthday party for her husband at the CharliePalmer Steakhouse (in the Four Seasons Hotel...right above Mandalay Bay). we're not gamblers, but it would be nice to get away for a couple days...and i have some friends who live in North Vegas.

anyway, the celebration will be on the 29th...and it looks like hotel rooms are still relatively reasonable on the 28th and 29th. of course, for the brave souls who choose to pay exorbitant prices for the 30th through the new year, good luck to them. most of the prices along the strip for those dates are in the $269-$500 range. ha! right... you're talking to people who pay $20/night on average in Latin America. you know how far $500 will go for us there :P 10-15 days, baby.

since the bash will be on the south end of the strip, i'm considering the monte carlo (which is low key nice), the luxor, and mandalay. all three are in the $85-$120 a night range. of course, i've always been intrigued by Treasure Island's Tower Suites, which are 900 sq. ft. and have two marble baths, whirlpool, walk in closets, etc. during slow times, these go for $175/night - not bad...considering we've stayed in teeny 100 sq. ft. rooms in Spain for $95/night. i think it'll be worth it to drop $235/night for the suites on the 28th and 29th... i may just surprise lolis and book it...even if it is at the opposite end of the strip.

the Orleans casino is a longshot consideration. supposedly, all their rooms are 500 sq. ft. suites and generally go for less than $100/night. the only problem is that it's off the strip, giving rise to the transportation issue. we like renting a car, we just hate the traffic congestion of Vegas. i believe the city needs to calibrate its system of traffic lights. the last time we were there, we timed the lights at one major intersection and noticed that the north/south light was roughly green for 45 seconds, while the east/west light was double that. no wonder it takes forever to drive/take a bus or cab along the strip; you could almost walk faster...

regardless, we'll work it out and make it to Brian's 50th. now, it's on to finding a cheap fare...

btw, if anyone is considering going to vegas, i did find out that the Orleans has rooms for $20/night for the few days before thanksgiving and xmas...wotta deal.

on a roadtrip this weekend. we'll be going south to Española, NM to see our friend Antonio. i think i've mentioned him before. he's the curator of ethnology at the museum of indian arts/culture in Santa Fe. a LONG time ago, he and i were washing and cataloging pottery finds...digging in mexico...drawing soil core samples in colorado...and drinking bars dry ;) you would not believe the money we started saving the day he moved back to NM for a job at the School of American Research...

it'll be great to see him. i think it has been at least a year and a half since we last saw him. if there's one sure thing, we're gonna go to Castro's and feast. i swear by this restaurant. it is absolutely one of the best joints in Santa Fe. their red chile is sublime...

Cindi, your eyes are getting very round...like pepperoni.

¡ya basta!

enough!

i've spent the last ten minutes plowing through a box of Raisin Mini Wheats. i bought five boxes at Big Lots recently...for the miles. yes, the mileage slut is at it again. American Airlines has offered 100 miles on specially selected Kellogg's cereals for the past five years. most of the time, the offer was on the back of Mini Wheats, Product 19, Special K, All Bran, and a couple others.

of course, when lois was on a cereal kick for dinner, we accumulated a few thousand miles over the course of a couple years. and now, since she has sworn off cereal (gee, i wonder why), the Kellogg's bandwagon has screeched to a halt...until this week.

it was just too hard to pass up these boxes since they were short dated (best before 10/31/04) and marked down to a paltry $1.25. if you ask me, 500 miles for $6.25 is a deal. consider this, one of the cheapest fares on American is from Denver to Dallas ($150-$200), which will net 1300 miles on a round trip. by buying cereal even at $4/box, you can get 1500 miles for $60...or $18.75 if you're lurking in the bargain aisles of Big Lots ;) i just wish there were other kinds of cereal with the mileage coupons...

btw, 'ya basta' means 'enough already!' in spanish.

sleepy...

played some ball today...such great weather. strained the right hamstring a bit. yep, the same one that has bothered me all summer. have i stayed off of it one bit? nope. oh well.

took some painkillers that no longer work for lois. i don't recall the name (ultra____), but i think it's a stronger form of acetaminophen. probably won't do anything significant for my pains. however, it did make me feel good for a couple hours after some dinner and a glass of italian red wine at OliveGarden.

yeah, yeah. i know you shouldn't mix drugs with alcohol, but if the pain doesn't subside, at least you can forget about it ;)

it was good to go to the garden. it had been probably at least a couple years since we were there last. don't know why though. the pasta e fagiol soup, salad, breadstix, and our entrees (Tour of Italy [lasagna, chicken parmagiana, and fettucini alfredo] and the three type ravioli) were as good as ever. and the service was even better; a young college student named Brian. we're definitely going to make more of an effort to stop by...

nightynight...

too quiet...

around here, don't ya think?

sorry about not keeping up with the posts. i'm just less enthusiastic when it comes to sharing the details of my life, which is pretty mundane at best.

since you're so tired of reading that stupid paper shredder post, i'll fill you in on the last 13 days...

did get a shredder that crosscuts and destroys credit cards - a feature that i totally needed. i think i had stashed around a dozen cards that had either expired or closed accounts. this saved me a lotta scissor cuttin'...

went out to dinner with Yani one last time before she returned to Cancún. this time, it was Korean food at Seoul Food (which is considered more Ameri-Korean than traditional) on 6th and Washington. i got my usual, Bi-Bim Bob, which is probably the usual of most non-Korean customers as well. it's a bowl of rice, veggies, meat, a fried egg, a couple fried shrimp, and the omnipresent googeechang sauce (a spicy red paste that you mix into the bowl's ingredients). after a fantastic meal that also included some plum wine and an appetizer of fried mushrooms, we finished off the night with some coffee at Pablo's, which is catty corner to the restaurant. unfortunately, we didn't get to sip our coffee in the comfy confines of their sofa, since we got in right before they closed. so we settled for the bench outside and spent the time reminiscing about her five months here. sigh. we are so going to miss her. ah well. i guess we can wait the nine months until we go to Cancún to attend a wedding next june...

last thursday was the rehearsal for the wedding. ha! right. some rehearsal. basically, in the 75 minutes we were there, it was nothing but a once through because the pastor was feeling under the weather. i did glean some two things from the whirlwind rehearsal though. one, the Episcopal church that my sister's now in-laws attend, has phenomenal acoustics. and two, the pastor of the church is nothing but a pompous and arrogant ass who thinks he's so incredibly enlightened and funny as hell. barf. what a jerk! funny that susie and lois feel the same way; the man is simply an insufferable dolt! ugh.

brb

dead...

my cross-cut shredder has annihilated its last receipt. now it's off to OfficeMax to find another one. although i really like this one, i'll probably save $60 by getting this one instead. i'm just a big fan of the Royal shredders, since the one that died was an older model that lois gave to me about six years ago.

pray that i get out of that store only $30-$40 poorer...so hard to do in any office supply place. it's just so easy to justify why you bought more pens, storage boxes, bookcases...

blistering...

it's kinda hot outside. hotter if you're dressed up for a funeral.

went to the funeral of my friend's grandfather today. he was interred at Ft. Logan, Denver's main military cemetery.

not that many people there, considering he was 87 and had MANY descendants (like eight children, 27 grand..., and 34 great-grand). unfortunately, i think there's a fight brewing amongst his children. the house that he had lived in for forty years, was promised to my friend but was ultimately...rather surreptitiously...stolen from him by his eldest children, who are looking to make a buck off of it. really sad.

i know my friend had already resolved himself to not having the house, which is too small for himself, wife, and two kids; living in Memphis also makes it less logical. however, i know that if the house were his, he'd give it to his mother (who was the last of the eight children). after all, if anyone deserves the house, it's Frances. she had been the main caregiver the last few years and never touched a dime of her father's money...a pretty selfless act considering she was usually broke.

it just makes me mad that there should be any question to what should happen to the house because i know that the people who would appreciate it the most are the ones on the outside looking in... humph* ain't it always that way.

well, Mr. C, i hope that everything works out for the better. i can still hear your voice, see your smile, and recall the images of you landscaping your impeccable lawn. thanks for letting us take your big ol' truck out to shoot pool on sundays, even if we weren't supposed to ;)

one last soak...

the toes aren't looking much better, but they're feeling better. no risk of them falling off either...which is a good thing :)

a somewhat busy weekend. on saturday, made a couple denver omelets for breakfast. for once, we had good omelet ingredients. it seems too often that we're missing one essential item or another whenever we're in the mood for omelets.

that afternoon, dad and i were fitted for the tuxes...a done deal. the people at the Men'sWearhouse in Cherry Creek were very quick and efficient. they should be ready on thursday the 16th, with two days to spare.

saturday was not too exciting though. we had planned on seeing a movie after chowing down at BlackAngus, but were too stuffed to stay awake. we could not believe the heart stopping items that they have for the set dinners. we ordered the flat iron steaks (which are small - 7 oz.), but that also came with the wagon wheel appetizer (fried zucchini, small shrimp cocktail, potato skins, and buffalo tenders) and a HUGE piece of chocolate cake. i'm positive i heard my aorta gurgle a couple times during dinner. they really should include some free defibrillator time...

yesterday was another day of running around. susie, lois, and i had breakfast w/ Yani, who goes back to Cancun on the 15th. we went to the EggShell, where i had some french toast and
some italian sausage. service wasn't stellar though...just better than adequate.

after breakfast, susie left to hang out with andy while we three headed to BestBuy and CircuitCity, to track down a new laptop for Yani. she ended up purchasing a Toshiba for about $1500. it's re-eal nice. she's thrilled about it because it would cost more than $2000 back in mexico; she's gonna be one of the most prepared architects in Cancun with that baby.

with the laptop and goodies in tow, we headed for Taste of CO. geez, it was windy! we scored a nearby free parking space and wandered into the sea of bodies at about 3:00 and didn't leave until about 7:00. yani and lois pretty much hit the majority of the jewelry stands (although you tire of the numerous rasta stands with reggae themed goods - but i guess they're popular). i scoped out a couple photography tents (which either had mediocre landscapes or outrageously overpriced prints). i noticed that there seems to be a small contingency of South American artisans (mainly Ecuadorean and Peruvian) that puts up tents for the taste. good for them. they have some good quality sweaters and unique tablecloths; hope they make a decent profit.

exhausted, we headed back to the house, where lois set up yani's laptop and toyed around with it. we also finished that obscenely sweet BlackAngus chocolate cake...thank god that Yani is a chocoholic.

all in all, a very good day. it's going to be sad when Yani leaves in ten days. she had hoped to stay for another two months, but her old company tracked her down and begged her to come back and offered her more money. they even paid for her return ticket and let her choose the date to start work again. guess ya can't argue that logic... good for you, yani.

tonight? well, we should probably go to the store...i don't think i've made dinner since last tuesday. and for once, i'm not in the mood to go grocery shopping, which i actually love. guess i'd better get hopping...

hmmm...

maybe i should soak more. ever since i decided to plop this tub in front of the computer, i've been one posting fool. sure, no quality...but there's quantity, at least.

any plans for the weekend? no decisions yet...

nothing exciting though. tomorrow, i think dad and i are going to get fitted for susie's wedding. geez, i haven't worn a tux since prom - 1988 and 30 lbs. ago. i wonder what color they chose...

would like to either get to the cheapies this weekend or Lakeside. i know SixFlags at Elitch's is a lot more fun, but we try to go to the 'side once a year, just to ride the train. it's a throwback to my childhood, as well as my siblings'; mom and dad always took us every summer to Lakeside for the train, fun house, bumper cars, and wild chipmunk. i guess i'm just trying to uphold the tradition. besides, you can live the nostalgia at Lakeside, something that disappeared the day Elitch's closed down and moved.

strange to have regular tv this week; the olympix has packed up for Beijing. and everyone, it's pronounced bay-jing...not bay-zhing. it drives me crazy to hear commentators/newspeople mispronounce it and soften the 'j' sound. the J is as hard as this baseball bat that will fall on yer pointy head every time you mess up. you may go now.

missed again...

cindi, which Aurora Fuzzoli's did you go to on wednesday? i was at the one on Parker and Iliff at about 2PM. i'm sure you were still in school, but it would have been some surprise for both of us, eh?

i had never been to that one before. i usually go to the one on Yale and Monaco... still, this other store was really nice...and huge! i wonder what it was before because it has two levels and some really cool windows. was it a restaurant/bar? i was even impressed with the urinals ;) really! they were the old, long kind; reminded me of the ones at Red Rocks.

mmm...Ziti and breadstix!

a little worried...

about my niece, Natalie, who lives near Fort Lauderdale, FL. what's the latest news on Hurricane Frances? i'm glad Charley missed them three weeks ago. i can't imagine what enduring one hurricane, let alone two, would be like.

if it does hit, i just hope that there are few fatalities...and that those bloodsucking looters and price gougers who struck in the aftermath of Charley...sustain some considerable damage themselves. i know i shouldn't be wishing ill will upon anyone, but that small percentage of jerkdom...whatever. isn't the majority of the population screwed after any disaster? why get punched in the face twice? howzabout a little free (or at least fair) cooperation you creeps!

looks like a grape...

has lodged itself underneath my big right toenail. see, i was wearing some comfortable (or so i thought) shoes earlier this week...that inevitably cramped my feet. these are shoes that i took to Spain for three weeks; i think i should retire them. i guess i just thought i had a few good miles in 'em. ah well.

of course, wearing those shoes didn't send me over the edge though. it was wearing my old volleyball shoes for a few matches later that night. i may have already mentioned that i resorted back to wearing shoes (first summer in 17 years) for outdoor games, in an effort to alleviate my ailing right knee and hamstrings.

initially, i thought that i had just sprained them a bit. ha! when the bruise underneath the nail appeared...i knew otherwise.

right now, i am on my second warm epsom salt soak. i'm hoping that a couple soaks will help the blood flow and cleanse some of the icky stuff that has come up. if anything, it's nice to get a 20-minute footie soak, ain't it? footie soaks are not taken seriously enough, if you ask me ;)

so, pass another seedless...

i see paris...

i see france.

yep. you can see those too.

last night, at volleyball, i was reaching pretty low for a dig when i heard, "CKCKCKKKK." you guessed it. my favorite seersucker shorts that i was wearing, split right down the middle.

it was priceless. the tear was a good six inches...it could have nested a bunch of sparrows, it was so big. i thought my friend, Kim, was gonna have a coronary; she was laughing so hard.

i'm glad that i had brought my fanny pack because for the first time, it covered that area. glad it was dark when i walked to my car...

seersucker. ha! more like 'see this sucker.'

off without a hitch...

well, not entirely.

susie's bridal shower was a big hit. 40-45 people showed up...many of them couldn't believe that the food wasn't catered (that made us feel good)...susie cleaned up with gifts...and the lady who owns the facility liked us so much that she gave us a discount.

funny how we were all geared up and now it's over; it's almost anti-climatic. what a great time though! oh yeah, we made so much food that we couldn't possibly give it all away...so the leftovers made for a few meals.

i guess the only hitching is between susie and andy. stay tuned!

re-eal exciting...

yeah, right.

been checking out fares from denver to chicago for my mom recently. she's going in early september for the Hip Sing national conference, which is biennial. well, looks like a flight on American for about $238...not bad, considering she waited a bit too long to get the tix. well, to make me get the ticket. i knew she was wanting to go a few weeks ago, when there was a fare sale to chicago - $124 + taxes - which would have put the price at around $163. ah well. it's not like she has to pay for it since she's gonna be denver's only delegate.

as i said, 're-eal exciting, this stuff...'

as for more exciting news, my knee is still a bit wobbly. i haven't played all week, which can only help it. we'll see about this coming week; i really shouldn't miss this coming thursday, as this league is winding down. i may even play with some old indoor shoes, just to give my knees a break. god, after playing for seventeen years, i still can't understand how people can play with shoes on grass. 'course, i'll do ANYTHING (except stop playing) to save my knees...but it may be too late ;)

better news...

i'm helping out with the food for susie's bridal shower tomorrow. looks like 40-45 people have rsvp'ed...so we're looking at making a shitload of food. on the menu:

chicken salad
seven layer dip
antipasto salad
nectaring chickpea couscous
spiral cut ham
pasta salad
mini cheesecakes

luckily, lois and i only have to make the first four items, which we'll do tonight (w/ the exception of the 7-layer). the antipasto salad and the couscous are things that we've made for years and usually disappears within seconds; no complaints there.

top of my head...

i am aching...my right knee is giving me fits. i just about collapsed into the driver's seat when i left the park yesterday. argh. i'm supposed to play tonight too - we'll see.

found something on eBay that i had been eyeing for some months now. in the past, this item was going for about $75...so i'm considering myself lucky for only having to bid a bit more than half of that price.

right now, lois is contemplating bidding on a couple books, but we're wondering if we'd just have better luck at the local goodwill or sally (the one that had its book inventory regularly wiped out by Nelle). one of the titles is quite a common one so we'll probably have no problem. as for the other, it may just be easier to check it out from the library and read it for free ;)

speaking of books, you know that i'm a horrible sucker for bargain books - anywhere. well, bookcloseouts.com is having a major sale right now and i'm doing whatever possible to avoid going to the site and having a looky-see. talk about torture...

anyway, i've been trying to get back on track with some of the books that i got right before we went to spain. one book from that batch was 'I Remember My Teacher.' it's a quick little read that's basically short anecdotes from people and their memories of teachers who made the most profound impact on their lives. it's such a great book that i may get a couple more copies to pass on to the two teachers that made the greatest impact on me. is that weird? maybe that's my way of expressing gratitude for my priceless education...

last year (2003), i went over to ParkHill Elementary and surprised the principal, who was retiring, on the last day of school. see, i didn't attend that elementary, but the retiring principal was my 1st grade teacher... i thought it'd be nice to show up with some roses, a card, and a couple pictures of me in field along with my first grade school photo. needless to say, she was utterly surprised and even remembered me. i hope the visit stuck with her for a couple days because many of the things that i learned from her during the '76-'77 school year remain with me to this day. Thanks, Mrs. Adams...

hmmm...

looks like the summer is over for some of us. sorry, cindi. and we didn't even get to grab some pizza...sigh. i saw somewhere in the paper that the 'average' american eats around 47 slices a year. i wonder if i fall in that category? can you join a support group? yeah, my name is Spencer and i wanna join Average American Anonymous. ya think they have their gatherings in households with 2.3 children?

argh. i am in some real blogging funk right now. i've just been popping in on others while mine has remained very quiet. been thinking of a lot of things, just not wanting to put them down. bleah.

visited with my eldest sis, shirley, last saturday. she had spent much of the day shopping for her maid of honor dress for susie's wedding. guess it all went well - the dress fit beautifully and it was less than $100.

anyway, we headed out to the airport to pick up her 13 year-old, elizabeth, who had spent three weeks in Florida, with her big sister, Natalie. it was a bit long...about 80 minutes of driving and 90 minutes waiting...but great to hang out since i haven't seen much of her over the past year. if i wasn't helping her with chemistry or algebra (she's enrolling in dental hygiene school next fall), the only social functions were familial obligations.

afterwards, they went to see mom & dad for a bit. i'm glad that elizabeth has no problems with hanging out with her grandparents; many teenagers don't even want to be seen with their own parents, let alone grandparents.

so saturday night was a lazy one (like all the others). i was planning to make ham (egg) foo young, until i realized that we had everything (ham, bean sprouts, green onions), but no eggs. guess that ain't gonna work...ended up going to Chipotle for some burritos and beer instead ;) not in a coffee mood, we skipped *$$ and strolled to 7-11 for some evil ice cream treats. i got a cherry garcia ice cream bar and lois, a triple cholcolate drumstick...

in our hyperglycemic stupor, we plopped down on the couch and watched ColdMountain. great movie...i can see why ReneeZellweger got the best supporting nod...she was phenomenal.

although the movie clocked in at about 2.5 hours, it didn't drag at all; the acting and storytelling were seamless. i thought the film was more deserving than LOTR:ROTK...but hey, the only academy that would want me is the driving academy.

thought this past weekend would be chock full of movie watching since we had rented two and bought three at Video One on friday, but we only got through two (City of God was the other). the other three, waiting in the wings, are Pushing Tin (w/ John Cusack), Auto Focus (the movie made about Bob Crane's life and murder), and Old Gringo (Gregory Peck and Jane Fonda). we couldn't pass them up for $3 apiece! probably should go back and pick up a few more that i passed up ;)

anyway, i did manage to make the foo young last night, which was scrumptious, and opted for some watermelon on the front porch - such a beautiful evening - instead of popcorn and a movie. we even sipped some liqueur (Amaretto & Cognac and Xtabentun) as night approached.

btw, Xtabentun (pronounced shta-ben-TUN) is a Maya liqueur that is similar to a sweet anise liquor, think of a honey flavored Ouzo. you can get it in Mexico City, Mérida, or Cancún for about $5-7 a bottle...or $30 at Argonaut Liquors (in a hokey bottle that ain't worth $25 more). a shot from a freshly opened bottle has quite a kick. if the open bottle actually survives a night of drinking w/ yer buddies, over a few months it'll mellow with sweetness and the licorice rush won't be so strong. sure, it's nice to bring back tequila, Kahlua, and mezcal back from Mexico, but it's Xtabentun that finds its way into my backpack :)

not quick enough...

on my personal yahoopage, i track assorted fares to faraway places like Dayton, OH and Buffalo, NY. hey, even domestic destinations can be exotic heh.

really though. i've been keeping an eye on any super cheapo fares that slip through the cracks. and within the last month, i've seen sales to Dayton (for my friend, Cindy, who wants visit her mom in october) for $150...Buffalo, NY for $141...San José, Costa Rica for $199 (which is unheard of...i paid $650 in 1992).

and now, there was some obscene fare to Mexico City for $49 plus tax (which is usually $91 for most mexico destinations)...making it $140 total! AND, of course, all the allotted seats have sold out (duh). i just wonder how many seats were offered and who had the sale... damn, wotta deal.

guess i'll just keep looking. the new fare lookout is for Denver to Chicago-O'Hare. my mom is going for a convention in early september. sorry, ma...looks like you're gonna shell out $200.

going once...

i forgot to get back to you regarding the SecretLife of Bees auction that i was keeping an eye on last week. yes. we won it...and for the minimum price. sure, we have to wait another few days for it since it's arriving media mail from connecticut. but hey, the total price was a few dollars cheaper than the recent eBaay going rate for the audiobooks, which was around $15-$20. so all is good.

now, we're keeping an eye out for a replacement Anolon Professional 12" saute pan; ours has seen a lotta cookin' in the past few years. i've seen it go for $30-$50 (shipping incl.) on the Bay...a good price, considering it's $70 for a new one. hopefully, we'll be able to find one for cheap :)

it's back...

the weather pixie has returned after a short hiatus. good. hope it is well rested. glad that i don't have to look for an alternative to forecast obscure places that are probably only meaningful to me ;)

blue moon

been a busy last few days. last friday, it was back to the optometrist for lois' post-op evaluation. results were surprisingly better than we anticipated. at first, we thought that she'd be without corrective lenses for four more weeks. nope. she got some temporary glasses that are donated and lent to his patients after surgery; she's now able to drive until he finalizes a prescription for her.

saturday was spent with some anthro friends. we gathered at Linda's house for a blue moon party. lotsa fun. basically, we brought appetizers and a couple martini gimlets (to be traded for others that were brought by fellow partiers).

our gimlets weren't very special though. last week, we stopped at goodwill and spent a whopping dollar on these two, a blue one and a fancy crystal one. nothing funky or too original, but they were a steal for $.50 each. i mean, why spend $4-$5 for a glass that you'll never see again anyway? and so what that you'll take one home when we don't even drink martinis at home (or anywhere else).

we did come away with a nice gimlet though. it has a red swirl in it...very Hitchcockian. think of Vertigo...

after leaving the party, lois and i hung out on the front porch, watching the moon rise in the sky and commenting on the party. it was really good to catch up with Linda. she used to be one of the main anthro profs at UCD; she specialized in Tibet/Nepal and birth populations. it had been a few years since we last saw her. she looks happy though. apparently, she is out of academia...but loving it...AND making better money ;)

sunday was very laid back. we had breakfast at the nearby EggShell (in CherryCreek). as usual, i got the Kitchen Sink, which is a skillet with scrambled eggs, cheese, tomatoes, spinach, onion, and sausage...and a blueberry pancake. sigh

after gorging ourselves, we headed over to BedBath & Beyond, where susie and andy are registered. and after a couple hours of wandering, we escaped with some shower gifts - dishes and towels.

god, it was so hot on sunday. i know it was only 98, but july was so mild; we were getting used to the 80° temps. i was totally wilting at the park for the first two v-ball games. thank goodness for the clouds that parked themselves for the next coupla hours. i wouldn't have been able to stay for more than that if the blistering sun had remained...beating down on our delirious heads.

must've been one strong drink...

i just got home less than an hour ago and still feel a bit happy from visiting w/ my friends at Caldonia's. a guy who played volleyball with us last fall, Scott, is going to Florida for some extra pilot training for a few months. if all goes well, he'll end up working somewhere in that area. if not, he'll be back in December.

anyway, his gurlfriend had a little going away thingie tonight. drinks were kinda strong tho'. maybe i didn't have enough to eat, but a large beer and happy hour marg made me a bit tipsy. i guess my drinking has tailed off the last...oh, ten years ;)

it was nice to go to Caldonia's again though. it had probably been more than ten years since my last visit. they do have a great patio, although it's across the street from the Piper Inn...a biker bar. i have no problem with the bikers, just their extra loud hawg pipes...THAT drives me up the wall.

looks like...

weather pixie is no more for awhile. i wonder if this is permanent. if so, i'll need to find something else to fill that right hand side.

oh weather pixie, sorry to see you go...we hardly knew ye.

fourteen minutes...

just sitting here, monitoring a bid that i put in for an audiobook that lois is needing - The S*cret Life of Bees. recently, she borrowed the tape set from one of her friends, who had borrowed it from one of her book club pals. well, wouldn't ya know it... the second to the last tape was eaten by the ancient boom box that lois was playing it on. so, we have spent a couple days seeking out a cheap replacement. and, so far, we've come across sets for around $12-$15 (incl. shipping). unfortunately, i was narrowly beat out by another for the first one that i put a bid on. that's okay because i was expecting him to do a last minute thing, as so many people do (including myself). the only reason that i had hoped to win was because of the proximity; the seller was in Littleton. i could have picked it up and saved some postage...ah well.

and now, we're down to eight minutes before the end of the auction. wish us luck. brb

hmmm...

i sent this earlier via e-mail, but it didn't post. lookee...

i'm seeing if this really works, so bear with me. is it me, or has blogger.com been changing some things around? derbs and rachel had mentioned that the special toolbar was nowhere to be found. so, i thought i might take advantage of blogging from my email.

are you all seeing this? yes, i can't believe it either...after an 11-day hiatus of blogging slothness, i have put something down. can we call it blogger's block?

you know, i think i may stop talking about the weather in my posts. it seems that the last two times i did this, something odd came over me and i stopped blogging for more than a few days. bad weather...figuratively. it is a nice day though. temps in the high 70's, topping out in the low 80's...er, never mind.

so what has been happening in this boring life?

well, lois did get her other cataract removed. she's looking at ten weeks without corrective lenses. i guess that's how long it takes for the new lens to work out its kinks in yer eye. although lois thinks it's great to be able to see better, we're still not out of the woods. but hey, we're talking about going from a -9.00 in nearsightedness to like a -1.50, which is a HUGE improvement. this means no more $400-$600 glasses and gas perms. nope. she can now partake in the '2 pairs of glasses for $59' and even soft contacts...yay!

in other news, my good friend, James, was in town with his wife (Jenny) and two children (Isabela and Emilio). they spent last week attending his sister's wedding and catching up with his old hometown; James left Denver for the Army in 1989 and ended up in Germany, the first Gulf War, Kansas (where he met Jenny), the D.C. area, and now Memphis...where he has been a civilian for a few years.

it's always super great to see James. we've known each other since 10th grade and have been lucky enough to remain good friends regardless of the miles that have separated us. whenever he's in town, usually for work, he gives me a call for dinner or drinks. with any luck, he and the clan can move back to Colorado in five years. that is, if they can afford it; the house they have in Tennessee cost them $117K...which is about half of something comparable here. save up, guys!

argh! it's hard to believe that August is on the horizon. where did the summer go? what did i NOT get accomplished...everything. ah well, i guess that's what summers are for heh.

cooler...

much more comfortable. glad to be in the 80° range again... and it looks like the monsoon flow is dipping down to give us some extra heat relief...which means good sleeping weather.

actually got through our v-ball league tonight without much rain. we weren't sure if we were going to get to play, it looked so threatening when we got to the park. lucky for us, there was a little sprinkling and that's it. sure got muggy though. good thing Barb brought a six pack; made us forget ALL about the humidity and sweat ;)

results were better too. this week, we won all six games. hopefully, we'll play more steadily in the coming weeks. team sports are all about motivation and chemistry, right? 'course, cheating is good too...but not looked very highly upon, eh?

lessee here...what else?

just finished getting mileage credit for our trip to Spain. now, that's not something we just pooh pooh. that's 11,000 miles we're talking about. considering most frequent flyer mileage programs require 20K-25K miles for a free domestic ticket, it's freakin' important to make sure you got credited.

speaking of mileage programs, i thought it would be a good idea to give my sister, Susie, and her fiancee, Andy, a couple tix to a warm destination (Cancún, Hawaii, or Puerto Rico) for their honeymoon. susie was saying, "we're kinda short for a 'real' honeymoon, so we thought we might spend a long weekend in Taos."

huh? hell no! people who do the fakey honeymoon thing don't end up going on a 'real' one for many more years because they start putting it off, eventually getting moved down on the 'priority list.' you guys gotta go now.

personally, i'd opt for mexico. of course, after traveling through 17 of its states, you might call me biased ;) still, i believe it's a better choice for the financially strapped because the Mexican Peso, although having rebounded over the last 5 years, is still a much better buy than Hawaii or San Juan, PR. a budget of $70-$80/day (per person) at Mexican beach destinations will get you pretty much everything you need, unless you drink like a fish or go golfing or club hopping every day. $70-80 a day in the other island paradises would be enough to just scrape by.

mexico is still a very cheap destination. in larger cities (inland), i could easily get by on $40-$50 a day.

btw, i failed to mention that we'd use our mileage to get their tix. when you redeem frequent flyer miles for a free ticket, you just pay tax...meaning $59 for Mexico and $10 for the other two destinations. a deal for us, considering airfares to those three places in late september and all of october average $415-$620; we all benefit in the end. they wouldn't have to pay for their honeymoon travel while we get a break on the prices.

and if they still insist on going 'another time,' we may just be greedy and go ourselves...heh.

hot...

i know it's july, but after a cool june, it's hard to believe that the high may top out around 100° today...guess summer is in full swing now. hopefully, the monsoon flow will dip down as it's supposed to around the middle of the month; we are in dire need of moisture.

you know, i don't know why the water restrictions were lightened by adding another day of watering. how is this supposed to keep our reservoirs (partially) full? was someone predicting an above average precipitation level for the coming months? people in the Denver area...we live on a semi-desert plain. we go through pluvial (rainy) periods and droughts that can last more than a few generations; we ain't gonna catch up in one season. methinks some people on the water board had just laid down some sod recently...

well, at least the water board doesn't have the ongoing problems of the local police. officers are now breaking into the wrong apartments and shooting invalids who reach for their soda can. what's next?

"Don't 'goo-goo' me!" I said, "Drop the pacifier...NOW!"

i certainly appreciate law enforcement for keeping us safe, but you gotta wonder about their willingness to shoot. i know that they're pretty much trained to shoot accurately so the situation doesn't escalate. still, it just seems that there are far too many innocent deaths when the majority of them is highly preventable.

just pondering life from my messy, but gloriously cool basement...

just a blur...

is what this weekend has been.

friday night was spent at our favorite Thai restaurant with Lois' Edmonton counterpart, Marcus, who was in town to update the AS400 at PCL. if i hadn't told you before, Lois is the (computer) network administrator for the U.S. HQ of PCL Constructi*n...which still earns much more money than a graduate degree in anthropology ;)

i don't think he got much work done though. we stayed there until 9:30 and didn't get him back until about 10:30. luckily, he could get some set-up done via remote at the hotel. that is, if he just didn't put it off until the morning...

saturday was mexican food, Targettt, and a cheapie. although there is a plethora of mexican restaurants out there, we frequent only a handful. and la cocina de marcos is one of 'em. it's out on Yale and Havana. they have some of the best tomatillo salsa in town...and damn hot...excellent smothered green...perfectly cooked beans...everything is just so fresh. one of these days, i may even try the rosemary chicken. yep, the owner has an occasional 'non-mexican' special; he cooked for Grisanti's Italian restaurant for 10 years before they went under.

Targettt wasn't much of a coup for sales. i did find a short sleeved henley for half price and some magazine files. unfortunately, i only bought four files when i probably needed ten times that. i sorely need to get rid of some magazines. for years, i subscribed to Volleyball Magazine, Consumer Reports, Nat'l Geo., Men's Journal, Entertainment Weekly, Popular Photography, Archaeology Magazine, and Budget Travel. i certainly have enough issues to fill a couple large bookcases...ugh.

as for the cheapie, it was the first time that we were a little disappointed with our movie selection. we saw Barry Levinson's Envy, which stars JackBlack and BenStiller, with an over-the-top cameo by ChristopherWalken. overall, the movie was pretty good...until the last twenty minutes or so, when it unraveled a bit and became disjointed. it was like the writer either hashed it out while hung over or the editing went straight to hell; some of it just did not make sense. anyway, i'm not sure if i'd recommend this as a rental. it's too bad because i'm a huge fan of JackBlack and like BenStiller. Cindi, if you were wanting to see this, definitely go on a tuesday.

sunday was a banner day. we picked up Yani for the second to last Cirque show, had a late lunch, and basically hung out for the rest of the evening.

varekai is the fourth (in addition to Dralion, Mystere, and Alegría)cirque show that lois and i have seen. and of the four, dralion was still the best. this latest offering was quite beautiful and artistic, but a little less breathtaking than dralion and a less captivating story than Mystere. nevertheless, as any cirque show, there was lotsa acrobatics, great juggling, good humor, dazzling colors, and a cacophony of music. i dunno...maybe i'm getting a bit jaded. still, i wonder what the other five cirque shows (Saltimbanco, Quidam, O, Nouba, Zumanity) offer... can't be critical about varekai though; it was Yani's first cirque show and she was simply wowed.

our late lunch was at the newest(?) Sonoda's, which took over the space that Fins had occupied on 6th and Bdwy. usually, i get my sashimi...teriyaki...handroll fix at either Mori or Osaka, but this was on the way home. glad we stopped in. we had some extra cold Kirin Ichiban, excellent spicy yellowtail and spider (soft shell crab)rolls, and superb tempura and halibut. and the service was quite attentive without being intrusive, if you know what i mean.

after our massive lunch, we stopped by the *$$, three doors down. there, we gabbed while we sipped on our iced latte, mocha, and caramel macchiato. for once, i strayed from my usual almond latte and had a mocha (Yani's fave even though she had the macchiato) instead. i see that the 'bucks has introduced 'lite' frappucinos. one question, why bother? people who drink that are also the ones who want half regular and half decaf, like it's gonna make a difference...

fully gorged and buzzed, we crammed ourselves into the car and made our way to the house. took care of the critters and lounged in the basement, watching one of my all-time favorite flicks. ever see it? in fact, the first time we saw it (in '97 at the Mayan), we saw Lowa in the lobby afterwards. anyway, if you haven't seen it, definitely do so. the acting is top notch...the humor will have you rolling...and the soundtrack is unforgettable. you may also want to see this before the american remake is released - scary!

we finished watching the movie a few minutes before sundown. not wanting to end the seemingly perfect day, we took a stroll to the local safeway and secured one of those wonderfully sweet dulcinea watermelons. on the way there, we scrutinized all the newer condos/townhomes in North Cherry Creek and asked Yani's opinion (since she's an architect) regarding all those fancy overpriced behemoths which no one can afford. it was interesting to hear what she had to say since mexican construction methods are less logical but more structured. she went off on a huge tangent about the roofs, which (not to be punny) was a bit over our heads.

as the perfect ending to the perfect day, we spent about an hour on the back porch, drinking herbal iced tea and scarfing down about 3/4 of the watermelon. we had four candles going and a gentle breeze. as denny would say, "life is good. we sure are lucky bastards." you said it, brutha.

all join in now...

started a new v-ball league with Barb tonight. it's at Garland Park, which is only a five minute drive for me...yay! way better than the Thornton league last fall - ugh.

we did okay (3-3) for not having all played together as a team before. btw, it's a 4-man league. the other two players are Joe (brother-in-law of my brother, Scott) and Jen (a friend of Barb's).

anyway, i was looking at my feet and thought about how ugly and green they are from six games on grass. and then, for some odd reason, i got the fish heads song stuck in my head. so if you feel like it...

Green feet
Green feet
Ugly stinky green feet
Green feet
Green feet
Wash them up now

Green feet
Green feet
Ugly stinky green feet
Green feet
Green feet
Wash them up now

In the morning waiting for the shower
In the evening jumping on the grass

Green feet
Green feet
Ugly stinky green feet
Green feet
Green feet
Wash them up now

Ask a green foot anything you want to
It won't answer it can't talk

Green feet
Green feet
Ugly stinky green feet
Green feet
Green feet
Wash them up now

I took my green feet out to see a movie
Too dirty, wouldn't let me in

Green feet
Green feet
Ugly stinky green feet
Green feet
Green feet
Wash them up now

They play volleyball they don't wear sweaters
They're not good dancers they can't play drums

Green feet
Green feet
Ugly stinky green feet
Green feet
Green feet
Wash them up now

Ugly stinky green feet are never seen drinking cappuccino
In fancy schmancy starbucks with mocha drinking women yeah

Green feet
Green feet
Ugly stinky green feet
Green feet
Green feet
Wash them up now

REPEAT 3X MORE

Yeah

oh cokie...

remember on tuesday, when i was blogging about CoCo? well, it didn't turn out like i hoped it would. we returned to the vet that evening at 7:30 to pick her up and transport her to the hospital for tests and and an ultrasound to determine if she had congestive heart failure or pneumonia.

after the short consultation w/ the doc, the vet tech brought CoCo in and handed her to lois. poor cokie, she was gasping some and had a slightly blue tongue. upon seeing that, the vet advised us to haul some ass to the vet hospital, which was about 5 miles away (no highway access though).

so we jumped in the car and sped off. sigh... it wasn't enough. we had only made it about six or seven blocks when CoCo's tongue had turned black and she peed on lois. in a panic, i asked lois what i should do (turn back or floor it). lois still felt a heartbeat, so with that glimmer of hope, i drove on...desperately weaving through the Hampden traffic.

of course, it was to no avail. lois was imploring CoCo to hang on and started singing songs to her that she had so often done in CoCo's thirteen years. god, it was downright heartbreaking. i don't know how i didn't crash the car on the way there; our nerves were so shot.

as the dogs before her, CoCo will be cremated. i'm not sure where the ashes will be spread though. unlike Suzy (lois' shepard/dobie mix), whose ashes were spread at Rocky Mtn. Nat'l Park, CoCo's favorite place was probably on the end of the couch...on the right side of lois.

it's going to be some time before we get over CoCo. Suzy lived thirteen years too, but we were prepared since her health had been compromised by diabetes and cataracts; we knew she had to be put down. we were not ready for CoCo's passing. up until sunday, she was just fine...same ol' demanding little bitty...her HIGHNESS.

as you may know, the household i was raised in had no pets, so i never understood the rapport between humans and their pets. sure, dog is man's best friend...it's so cliché...but so true. cokie, suzy, and annie (the silkie who's going through some major shock now), are(were) so loving, patient, non-judgmental, and loyal that few humans could compare. dogs are even okay with it if you don't reciprocate in kind...they'll always stand by you.

so, all you dog owners out there, give your canine babies/pals an extra hug for me today because they deserve it for the waiting game that they are always faced with when you're at work; we take their loyalty and love for granted far too much.

you know, even in the throes of death, Lois' dogs always waited for her one last time. with suzy, we were in mexico for almost three weeks, plenty of time to check out while we were gone. no, she held on until we got back. and cokie probably shouldn't have lived out tuesday, but she toughed it out and longed to be held by her mama, just one last time.

just about to leave town...

not me though. nope. i'm talkin' about the Cirque du Soleil. you know, that fancy...slightly expensive...death defying...but cozy French Canadian company which dazzles every city they pass through.

yep. just a few shows left and i still have yet to get some tix. luckily, i think Denver is not so ga-ga over them anymore; three previous productions have already roared through here - Quidam in '98, Dralion in '00, and Saltimbanco in '02. so there are still some decent tix.

i'm trying to convince lois and our friend, Yani, to possibly catch the sunday matinee because it has the best selection of seats still available. i'm hoping it'll be worth the $75 ticket.

i shouldn't be too concerned about the price of the ticket though. when Saltimbanco was in town, i was perusing through the Cirque site and saw that the show was heading to Mexico City after its stint here. well, those tix in Mexico City were closer to $90...which is roughly 2-3 weeks of salary for the average Mexican. needless to say, not many average joes were probably in the audience... damn, could you imagine seeing an intriguing ad or recording of the Cirque, only to find out that it would cost you approximately two weeks of work just to afford a ticket? talk about crestfallen...

something to do...

stolen from Cindi Movie Memes are cool...

Stuff I've seen is bold, stuff I’ve seen AND I own is bold and in italics. If you steal it from me, be sure to add three movies to the end of the list.

01. Trainspotting
02. Shrek
03. M
04. Dogma
05. Strictly Ballroom
06. The Princess Bride
07. Love Actually
08. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Rings
09. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
10. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
11. Reservoir Dogs
12. Desperado
13. Swordfish
14. Kill Bill Vol. 1
15. Donnie Darko
16. Spirited Away
17. Better Than Sex
18. Sleepy Hollow
19. Pirates of the Caribbean
20. The Eye
21. Requiem for a Dream
22. Dawn of the Dead (the original)
23. The Pillow Book
24. The Italian Job
25. The Goonies
26. Baseketball
27. The Spice Girls Movie (Spice World)
28. Army of Darkness
29. The Color Purple
30. The Safety of Objects
31. Can't Hardly Wait
32. Mystic Pizza
33. Finding Nemo
34. Monsters Inc.
35. Circle of Friends
36. Mary Poppins
37. The Bourne Identity
38. Forrest Gump
39. A Clockwork Orange
40. Kindergarten Cop
41. On The Line
42. My Big Fat Greek Wedding
43. Final Destination
44. Sorority Boys
45. Urban Legend
46. Cheaper by the Dozen (the original with Clifton Webb and Myrna Loy)
47. Fierce Creatures
48. Dude, Where's My Car
49. Ladyhawke
50. Ghostbusters
51. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
52. Back to the Future
53. An Affair To Remember
54. Somewhere In Time
55. North By Northwest
56. Moulin Rouge
57. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
58. The Wizard of Oz
59. Zoolander
60. A Walk to Remember
61. Chicago
62. Vanilla Sky
63. The Sweetest Thing
64. Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead
65. The Nightmare Before Christmas
66. Chasing Amy
67. Edward Scissorhands
68. Adventures of Priscilla: Queen of the Desert
69. Muriel's Wedding
70. Croupier
71. Blade Runner
72. Cruel Intentions
73. Ocean's Eleven
74. Magnolia
75. Fight Club
76. Beauty and The Beast
77. Much Ado About Nothing
78. Dirty Dancing
79. Gladiator
80. Ever After
81. Braveheart
82. What Lies Beneath
83. Regarding Henry
84. The Dark Crystal
85. Star Wars
86. The Birds
87. Beaches
88. Cujo
89. Maid In Manhattan
90. Labyrinth
91. Thoroughly Modern Millie
92. His Girl Friday
93. Chocolat
94. Independence Day
95. Singing in the Rain
96. Big Fish
97. The Thomas Crown Affair (the original)
98. The Matrix
99. Stargate
100. A Hard Day's Night
101. About A Boy
102. Jurassic Park
103. Life of Brian
104. Dune
105. Help!
106. Grease
107. Newsies
108. Gone With The Wind
109. School of Rock
110. TOMMY
111. Yellow Submarine
112. From Hell
113. Benny & Joon
114. Amelie
115. Bridget Jones' Diary
116. Monty Python and the Holy Grail
117. Heavenly Creatures
118. All About Eve
119. The Outsiders
120. Airplane!
121. The Sorcerer
122. The Crying Game
123. Hedwig and the Angry Inch
124. Slap Her, She's French
125. Amadeus
126. Tommy Boy
127. Aladdin
128. How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days
129. Snatch
130. American History X
131. Jack and Sarah
132. Monkey Bone
133. Rocky Horror Picture Show
134. Kate and Leopold
135. Interview with the Vampire
136. Underworld
137. Truly, Madly, Deeply
138. Tank Girl
139. Boondock Saints
140. Blow Dry
141. Titanic
142. Good Morning Vietnam
143. Save the Last Dance
144. Lost in Translation
145. Willow
146. Legend
147. Van Helsing
148. Troy
149. Nine Girls and a Ghost
150. A Knight's Tale
151. Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey
152. Beetlejuice
153. E.T.
154. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
155. Spaceballs
156. Young Frankenstein
157. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
158. American President
159. Bad Boys (Sean Penn's 1983 movie, not Will Smith's 1995 cop movie)
160. Pecker
161. Pink Floyd: The Wall
161. X-Men
162. Sidewalks of New York
163. The Children of Dune
164. Beyond Borders
165. Life Is Beautiful
166. Good Will Hunting
167. Run Lola Run
168. Blazing Saddles
169. Caligula
170. The Transporter
171. Better Off Dead
172. The Abyss
173. Almost Famous
174. The Red Violin
175. Contact
176. Stand and Deliver
177. Clueless
178. William Shakespeare's Romeo+Juliet
179. Dangerous Liasions
180. I Am Sam
181. The Usual Suspects
182. U-571
183. Capricorn One
184. The Little Shop of Horrors (the one with Jack Nicholson)
185. Die Hard
186. The Flamingo Kid
187. Night of the Comet
188. Point Break
189. Forbidden Planet
190. The Bad Seed
191. The Day the Earth Stood Still

here are my three:

192. Central Station
193. Shall We Dance?
194. Delicatessen

back...

is better. glad that it was nothing. there's just always a bit of concern when it comes to my back, since i have few problems with it. now, if my knees and shoulders would just listen and behave...

while the back is better, Coco is not. she was unable to sleep last night, just sitting there and wheezing. at first, we thought it might have been a bit warm on the carpet, but Annie wasn't panting; when it's hot, both dogs pant. and cokie's wheezing sounded kinda wet, like fluid in her lungs.

well, the vet had other news - congestive heart failure. Coco has an enlarged heart...which was pressing up against her trachea and causing her to cough and gag the past couple days. anyway, the vet said that once the meds are straightened out, little dogs w/ congestive go about their normal lives.

and really though, that little 13 year-old Yorkie ain't done with us yet. she's got lots more pain and hell to put us through ;)

ouch...

ever get a little twinge in the upper part of yer back, near the scapula? and the best thing to do would be to take it easy and pop a few painkillers?

of course, not all of us take that path. noooo. some of us decide to try to stretch it out any way possible...with some drugs...AND alcohol...only to suffer later because (afterwards) that wee twinge of a minor muscular strain has turned into a hot knife digging into yer back.

yeah... well, you know i'd raise my hand if it didn't cause me to convulse into a rapturous seizure.

but hey, meester aggressive back fixer is still able to blog, even if he can't see straight. argh.

it's 1:09 AM, do you know where yer narcotics are?

i dunno...

but i sure haven't felt like posting lately. i just've been very bleah. i bet you've all experienced this blogging apathy before - even the good bloggers. so, i hope you understand; i never intentionally abandon this thing ;)

went to the Soopers tonight and collected some stuff for a makeshift picnic...a couple sammiches, fruit salad, a black eyed pea salad (called California Caviar - is it a Texas thing? 'coz i've NEVER heard of it), some olive medley (green and kalamata), and a couple bottles of water...and headed over to the City of Brest Park, where we noshed and waited for Glendale's annual firework display; we consider it to be one of the best in the area.

there were some beautiful colors and even a new shape that we had never seen. sure, we've all seen the big chrysanthemums, the ellipses (or are they just circles?), etc. but have you seen the two stage swirl? it was basically a swirl design that split up into a bunch of squigglies, like a bunch o' fireflies...very cool.

the show lasted about 20 minutes. i'm sure it mesmerized many of the drivers along Colo. Blvd., distracting those in the turning lanes and even causing a fender bender during the finale, which was pretty intense. all i remember was multi-colors...red, green, orange, yellow, purple, white, blue...and then they shot a bunch of white, followed by all red. nothing like a fireworks finale; never fails to give me goosebumps.

afterwards, we stopped at the Blockb*ster in Belcaro and rented Matchstick Men and The Business of Fancydancing.

we watched Matchstick... first. it was good...very much in the style of 'The Spanish Prisoner' and 'The Score.' not quite as good as the aforementioned, but still worth a rental if you're a Nicolas Cage fan. i know that he can be over the top, but Cage is a great character actor; this time he's the protagonist with some major OCD issues with hygiene (a la Jack Nicholson in 'As Good As It Gets'). funny though because Cage is supposed to be some sort of clean freak and yet he smokes throughout the entire movie. talk about irony ;)

testing...

is this thing working now?

so...

tired of reading about my dumb weather pixie? me too. every day, i've been thinking about blogging but just too lazy to do it. after a year of posting, i honestly believe that the daily stuff just runs together.

bleah. my hands smell like latex. you know when you use those tight fitting gloves for household chores? yep. and they just dry out your hands too.

short on time. going out to grab a bite to eat and spread out the sleeping bag on a grassy knoll to watch Glendale's annual fireworks display. should be fun...way better than cleaning and pulling weeds ;)

got two more...

as you can see, i've added two more weather guys and which cities they're forecasting. so, now you'll know the current conditions for Puebla, Mexico and Rurrenabaque, Bolivia. i know i could have chosen more common cities like Mexico City or La Paz, but i wanted to be a little more unique...and besides, these cities have a special place in my heart. i worked in Puebla in 1994 and Rurrenabaque is the most laid back town i have ever encountered in Latin America - all you want to do is hang out in a hammock and plan trips to the Amazonian wilderness or the Bolivian pampas (grasslands). btw, i shortened it to Rurre because that's what the locals call it anyway.

i'm considering two more cities in addition to the three since the gal at weatherpixie.com has a limit of five cities per page. so you may see Thailand and New Zealand in the future; would very much like to visit friends in those countries...and soon!

zonked...

lois is OUT. i took her to St. Anthony's for cataract surgery this morning. we were in by 8:00 and out by 11:00...talk about fast. i guess the sedation, removal of the cataract, and implant of a new lens takes only about thirty minutes. AND you're conscious the whole time...

i know you're wondering about the cataracts. well, it's not just octogenarians who are hampered by cataracts, younger people get them too. and pray that if you get one, you'll have the kind that ripen quickly; cataract surgery is not performed until it's completely ready (i.e., everything you see has a halo).

lois' cataracts took only a year to ripen. maybe these kinds are hereditary...her two oldest siblings had the surgery too. anyway, she's going to get the other eye (left) done towards the end of July. it should be an exciting time for her because she's worn glasses since she was very young. with the new lenses, her vision will be corrected to 20/40 or 20/60...a long way from blind as a bat with pretty bad astigmatism. for the first time in her life, she'll probably be able to even get soft contacts. a miracle since she always had gas perms. the cataract surgery will even lower the cost of glasses; the last few pairs of glasses cost her $300-$600. nothing like a light prescription ;)

if my astigmatism ever worsens to the point of needing gas perms, i can only hope for a quick and ripe cataract heh

in hiding...

that's where i've been. i have had all the intentions of blogging, but i just couldn't get it all together. know what i mean? i'm sure that you too have had days where you want to read everyone else's postings...and let the keyboard rest...just lying under yer hot little hands.

yes. i am 34 now. my friend sent me an e-card alluding to all the creaky parts we have; he says it's all downhill from here. friend. humph...

went to see Ladykillers at the cheapies today...with my friend, Cindy. was looking out for the other Cindi, but i think she's busy getting on me about blogging...or sumpin' like that. btw, where's your passport? you can use mine ;) i can always use a few more stamps. 'course, you're way too pretty for my passport pic. ugh. i wish i could have used my driver's license pic for this passport...it's ug-lee.

anyway, Ladykillers was quite funny. the Coen brothers are fantastic moviemakers. Fargo and Raising Arizona are two of my favorites. i'll go see it again with lois. we were planning to see it last friday, but opted for Shrek 2 instead, which is definitely worth seeing again. there are so many crazy homages that it's hard to catch them all with one viewing.

this past thirty days have been filled with movies. in addition to some of the pics that we caught on cable in Spain, we watched 'School of Rock'...'The Last Samurai'...'LOTR:ROTK'...'50 First Dates'...and 'Miracle' ALL on the plane. yep, 11-12 hours each way gives you PLENTY of time to watch movies on those trans-continental and atlantic flights.

off to dinner...but where? ooh, maybe Mori Restaurant. sashimi, teriyaki, tempura, and sake (or Kirin Ichiban beer) sounds kinda good! maybe Indian...saag paneer, chicken vindaloo, and kabli naan...mmmm, maybe not. i think i'll hold off on indian for another week or two.

what about you guys? is there some long standing tradition for b-day dinners that you want to fill me in on?

if you haven't noticed...

i changed my weather guy back to Denver from Madrid. i'm thinking about putting additional weather pixies to tell the conditions of other cities. i wonder if a couple more wouldn't hurt...and not dent that gals bandwidth too much.

oh yeah...

if anyone travels through Philly's airport and is on C concourse, you should definitely check out the salad place right across from gate C31. for $6.95, you can choose any three of their salads or get a triple sized portion (about 24-30 oz. by volume). we opted for their greek salad, roasted veggies, and a tuna pasta salad. it makes for some good snackin' (or a huge dinner for one) on the flight.

sure...$6.95 may get you two combo meals at McD's...at home. in the airport? ha. you can't get anything under $4. and why spend $5-$10 for the lame-o meals that they're starting to sell on domestic flights?

enough talk about food though...i'll post something different later today.

just a blob...

that's what i am right now. yesterday was a bugger. we got up in Madrid at 7:00 AM and didn't set foot into the house until 9:00 PM. fourteen hours...plus eight hours time difference. so we were basically on the go or on the plane for 22 hours (about nineteen of it in the airport and on the plane). you would think that we slept a bit since it was a bit brutal...ha! from the time we got on the plane to landing at DIA, it was daylight (since we gained a third of a day coming back); our circadian rhythms will take some time adjusting.

i know my meal schedule will be screwed. we had two meals on the trans-atlantic flight...quite decent too. it helps to request a special meal (e.g., low fat, low cholesterol) when you book an international flight. they're way healthier and often more filling.

for example, our lunch was swordfish (about 3 oz.), a bit of linguini, a tiny potato, carrots, a nice little three bean salad, a small pita, and a fruit mix. everyone else got chicken or pasta...with a lame salad, hard roll, and something sickeningly sweet (which is not always a bad thing ;).

our snack was an 8" ham and cheese sandwich and a cup of those huge, black, globe grapes that have seeds but are really sweet. the rest of the cabin got a sandwich that was probably 30% smaller, a teeny bag of chex mix, and an itty bitty piece of Toblerone chocolate.

i think there's a caloric range that the airlines try to meet for their meals. however, if they serve you an unhealthy meal, the portions will be smaller because the fat will ring up those calories. if you get a lowfat or cholesterol meal, it'll be inevitably bigger because extra veggies won't add to the calorie tally.

of course, this silly little diatribe is coming from someone who has had a ham, cheese, & salsa omelet, applesauce, chocolate pudding, and three servings of pasta in the last six hours LOL

something to do...

from Nelle´s...

What's going on?
What was the last ...

…meal you ate?

we shared a ham & cheese sandwich and some strong cafe au laits at the High Tech Cafe...which was way better than the meal we had last night at some ultra-scary buffet that we flipped a coin over (i wish the coin came up tails because we would have had some great kebab instead ;)

…thing you did online?

my fifteen minute post...

…television show you watched?

bbc news in Sevilla. although we did catch some weirdo western last night w/ Joan Crawford(!)

…purchase you made?

an hour of internet access on two computers for 1 Euro each

What do you currently…

...hear?

clicking and tapping of mice and keyboards

...see?

an okay mural along the wall we´re facing. it looks like a round bar with eleven customers and a waiter-type with a bowtie. on the bottom right corner is a painted monitor of the name of the place, Ciber Natura - upstairs is a juice bar/cafe and downstairs is the internet portion.

...smell?

cigarette smoke. we thought we could escape the poor ventilation by sitting in the far corner, away from the smoky smell. it lasted five minutes when a spanish guy sat down and lit up five feet away from us. we are so spoiled in the U.S. when it comes to no smoking; everyone here seems to smoke. and we´re talking about smoking in the elevator, internet cafes, airport, you name it.

...feel?

tired but happy that we´re supposed to go home tomorrow. i think that three weeks in a country is the max for us. and i´m also a bit annoyed with the cig smell, but we´re the freaks here for not being smokers...

What’s on your…

...toes?

cotton dress socks.

...head?

my smoke filled black hair

...mind?

how we´re going to spend the day. we were originally planning to go to Toledo, which is a UNESCO World Heritage site (yes, the WHOLE city), but we´re tired of train and bus rides AND of walking hill after hill. plus, we´re down to about 85 Euros, which will just about cover our meals and a taxi to the airport tomorrow; we don´t want to hit the ATM again.

i do know that we´ll have tapas one more time at La Moderna, a beer pub that we frequented during the first few days in Madrid. the main server there (on the patio), Angel, was really cool.

another fifteen...

i think i´ve gotten into the habit of trying to post something worthwhile in a span of fifteen minutes. i get on the computer and tell myself to blog, even if it´s for that amount of time.

back in madrid... i think i blogged from Cadiz last. Cadiz was interesting. an old seaport town that´s one of the oldest towns in Spain - established by the Phoenicians in 1100 B.C. the streets are narrow and the cobblestone is slick. and as i posted before, it is really laid back. places of business take a true siesta between 3:30 and 6:30, only the tourist places open during those times.

hah, i just realized that i last blogged from Ronda...well, you needed some more info on Cadiz anyway ;)

anyway, it´s good to be back in madrid. the two days after ronda were spent in sevilla, where it was 95 degrees the whole time. jeez, the breeze didn´t kick in until about 8:30.

yesterday, we spent an afternoon in Cordoba...in the cool confines of the Mezquita. you always see pictures of this phenomenal building, but never imagine seeing it (in person). unfortunately, after 500 years as a mosque, ceilings were built above the arches by the christian church. i admit that it´s nice and cool (if not a bit dark), but i wonder what it looked like all open...

we spent the last two days on the AVE (high speed train). it´s a bit expensive, but it´s worth it if you want to save time; a two and a half hour bus ride to cordoba from sevilla takes only 45 minuts on the AVE and a 5-6 hour trip to madrid is cut in half. unfortunately, i think the AVE is only to a couple points from madrid for now. they´ve been talking about one to Barcelona...but that´s all it is.

argh...it´s been about 14 minutes, so i better wrap it up. more to come later tonight or tomorrow...

btw...

everyone go and check out the website of my old neighbor, John Lunceford. i found his site a few weeks ago and told susie about it. she must´ve gotten in touch with him in the meantime... wow. he´s one talented kid!!! geez, i shouldn´t be calling him kid since he´s 30 now! just yesterday, he and i were digging up his backyard in search of anything. well, at least one of us outgrew the dirt digging ;)

help me ronda...

no, i´m not talking about the Beach Boys either. we´ve spent the last two nights in Ronda, Spain, which is in the central southern area. it´s one of many whitewashed towns along the Sierra Grazalema.

from reading the guidebooks, it would seem that Ronda is a sleepy little town with little to offer. i guess that´s somewhat accurate. unlike the major cities, most of the places close around nine o´clock. however, the infrastructure is pretty well established for tourism. the main draws for its visitors are the bullring (oldest one in Spain - 1785) and the ultra beautiful views of the bridge that spans the Tajo gorge.

we are majorly tired though. we really haven´t been on the go the entire time we´ve been here. in fact, we´ve been taking it easy - a vacation from the vacation. no, what has been tiring us out is the scaling of all the hills. our hotel is on the east side of town, about a fifteen minute walk to the central part of Ronda. the hills are killer. i don´t know how the cars navigate the super narrow and slick cobblestone streets. it´s even crazier to watch scooters and motocross bikes charge up these puppies.

although we almost wish that we stayed in a hotel closer to the bus station, the place we´re in, is really cool. it called the Entre Arte Hotel. we ended up paying 90 Euros a night for one of their double A rooms, which is pretty spacious. it´s about 30% more than we were paying in Sevilla for a junior suite and a buffet breakfast...but here, ALL the drinks (beer...wine...sherry) is included as well as a fantastic lunch spread. oh yeah, the internet access is free too. so, we´re just kicking back and enjoying the views of the mountains, listening to the thousands of frogs in the riverbank below, and enjoying the HELL out of ourselves!!!

i know i skipped a couple cities, but stay tuned...i´ll catch up eventually.

oops...

i can´t believe that it has almost been a week since i blogged last! the past five-six days have been filled with so much that some of it is becoming a blur ;)

we´re in Sevilla now, Spain´s fourth largest city. it is hot, HOT. we got into the city yesterday afternoon from Granada and it has pretty much been in the high 80´s. thank god for a/c!!!

lessee here. i really should mention some of the places we´ve been, eh?

last friday, we took a day trip to Aranjuez, which is a short drive south of Madrid. nothing too special...just a small town that was once the spring and fall homes of the royal family. there´s a massive garden that the Spanish Bourbon monarchs built three hundred years years ago, in an attempt to replicate Versailles. now, i´m sure it´s nothing like it...but it´s still pretty damn impressive.

as i mentioned last week, the royal wedding was last saturday. everything was closed off for the limo procession and the security was tight; on one block, lois and i were stopped and searched at each corner by the police. later, when we were in the pharmacy, the 60-year old pharmacist told us that the cops confiscated an apple in her pocket because she ¨might throw it.¨ lol

what else...rain. and lots of it. in fact, it rained every day for the first six days we were in madrid. and when we went to Granada (5 hours SE) for two days, it rained there too. luckily, we were able to do the important things in the morning before the afternoon downpour.

anyway, back to our goofy itinerary.

tuesday was a long, but very worthwhile day. we went up to Segovia, which is about an hour north of Madrid. it´s known for three things - a massive aqueduct, a stunning cathedral built in 1525, and the Alcázar (a really cool castle).

the Segovia aqueduct was built around the first century BC. made of granite, it´s about a half mile long, has 166 arches, 120 pillars, and is around 100 feet high. other than its age, the other cool fact about this massive structure is that it was built WITHOUT any cement or mortar! how ´bout a pic?

the cathedral, although started in 1525, wasn´t finished for another 200 years. supposedly, it is the last Gothic structure built in Europe. go see this site.

if any of you have been to Disneyl*nd, or even watched the show as a kid, then you´ve seen the Alcázar. really. what´s the first thing you envision when you think of Disneyl*nd? the castle, right? well, the Alcázar served as the primary model for Walt´s little castle. and it is awesome!!!

i hate to cut it short, but we gotta head back to the hotel and pack for tomorrow. i´ll update from Cadiz...

it´s the wine...

argh...we just finished dinner across the street at a place called Cafe del Principe (Prince Cafe). it was soooo good. we had ham and potato croquettes, combination paella, a bottle of Faustino VII Rioja, tiramisu, and a couple super strong cafe con leches (cafe au laits). we escaped for 55 Euros (incl. tip)...not bad considering a bottle of wine and paella for two in denver runs about $50 anyway. and it was authentic here ;)

been a long day. we went to the Reina Sofia and the Prado and did some MAJOR walking. between the two, there are 145 galleries. i think we wandered through a bit more than half of them. had to. many of Madrid´s art galleris are free on sunday, saving us about 3-6 Euros at each one.

the Reina Sofia is quite interesting to say the least. much of it is modern art, mainly painting and sculpture in the postwar era. the gem of its collection is Picasso´s famous depiction of the Basque town, Guernica, which was destroyed by German bombers in 1937. it shows the general chaos and fear of the town´s citizens as they´re awakened by the noise and the carnage laid out by the bombs. it´s considered to be one of Picasso´s most famous works.

anyone who has studied a bit of art history is familiar with this painting...and has probably seen it ad nauseum in books or postcards...but to see the real thing is just mind-boggling! the canvas is SO freaking huge! i was not expecting it to be around 10 feet by 22 feet - damn!!! what´s even more stunning is the fact that picasso spent only five months working on the project (from studies to the finished product); talk about being driven!!!

as for the rest of the Reina Sofia, it was quite impressive, if not a bit confusing. i guess we´re not much for some modern pieces. there was some really strange stuff. still, to see a bunch of Miro´s and some amazin´ Picasso b/w photos of the first light of the Spanish Civil War...

and the Prado? there is so much that it just hurts yer tiny little head thinking about it. man, 105 galleries of goya...velazquez...caravaggio...rembrandt...el greco...flemish masters...i just don´t know what to say. it will leave you utterly speechless to view all the things you read about it books; the bold brushstrokes, the mastery of lighting...the perfect musculature...the gamut of emotions - it´s overwhelming. you simply can´t take all this stuff in on a daytrip. we´ll have to finish it on the 6th, the day before we leave.

well, i want to continue, but it looks like lois has fallen asleep on me. i promise that she´ll blog next time...she writes so much better than i.