weekend update

You know what's annoying? Is when I am all ready to write something here on my blog but then the Blogger website is "down". I mean, it's only happened once, so I can't complain really, but I usually have moments where I'm in the mood to write, and when they pass, I don't know when they'll come back. Which is why it sometimes is awhile between my posts. Anyways. Here I am. With a sore knee. Because I had my first experience getting stitches yesterday!

The day started out uneventful. I then decided I would go for a run, which is a novel idea lately, because since the half-marathon, I've certainly slowed down on the whole running thing. So off I went, down the valley floor, where I've run quite a lot during my training, nothing new. I was feeling good, so decided to run further, and at about two miles out, I got to an area of the trail that has been re-arranged naturally with sticks, and when I stepped on one stick, it must have pushed down one side of another stick, thrusting it upwards and straight into my knee, which was still in forward motion since I was running forward. It hurt so bad, and when I looked down, I felt faint when I saw that it ripped it pretty deep and my skin was raw, and then the blood began to pour out. I felt so frustrated - I was miles from town and didn't bring my cell phone with me of course. I felt one against nature, and decided to think rationally, so I took off my long sleeved shirt (thank god I wore layers) and tied it around my knee to stop the bleeding, and then proceeded to limp my way back to town, trying not to re-visualize how gross my knee looked and thinking that my leg would NOT fall off. Gotta love the off-season where I passed no one on my way back on the trail (I was very ready to attack the first person I saw so I could ask for their cell phone to call my sister), so after my long hike back, I stopped at Kelley and Wayne's to see if they thought I was overreacting in thinking I should go to the medical center and get stitches. Sure, I could have decided myself, but I refused to look at the cut in fear that I would vomit, imagining lots of blood and bones sticking out. They concluded stitches would be best so off to the ER we went (which is more like a doctor's office here in this small town) and got it all stitched up. And let me just say, I don't know how I will ever bear children because I was so nervous in the hospital bed. Just for stitches. They numbed my knee (by sticking a needle straight into the cut - that felt great) and scrubbed the area and stitched me up, and last night it was great - numb and painless. This morning is a bit different, as the numbness has worn off and it's stinging, but I feel happy that it's stitched up and safe. Especially since I will be moving all my belongings today - great timing.

So. That's it for now. Time to get finished up packing and moving. But otherwise I will be back soon, most likely after our long drive back to the Bay Area tomorrow and Monday.

voting for dummies

I'm doing research on the Colorado amendments for my mail-in ballot, and while learning about amendment 49, I had to laugh at what I saw on their website: as shown above, it writes that "if you’re on the go… Watch the popular, 2-minute sock puppet explanation of 49". Yes, keep it simple with a sock puppet. Because that's how I'd like to learn about important issues.

friday blues. and yellows.

I'm at work right now at the dog store and I'm sick. Bleh. I know, it's not good to work when you are sick, you could be spreading the disease, etc. But what can I do - I'm the only employee and really, it's the American way, isn't it? To work non-stop? I'm just being patriotic.

A few things I'm excited about:

I'm going home! Back to the bay area a week from Sunday. Here I come Indian food, sushi, the dog park...all that good stuff.

I have been playing Minesweeper here at work, which is quite possibly the best game ever. I feel like I'm back in the 80's playing such a basic, silly computer game on a PC. But it's incredibly addicting. It's been a few weeks now that I've been working here at the dog store, and it took me that long to actually win. But I did - about an hour ago. And good lord was it satisfying. Seriously.

The sun's out! Winter hasn't hit with its full force quite yet - I guess it's just been spatters here and there to keep people on their toes. But in the end I guess it doesn't matter since I'm going back to the sunny bay area so soon. Then when I get back it will be winter, for real.

telluride to music

I wanted to share this link of a video of Telluride set to Radiohead that was put together by Variety for the film festival. The footage is really beautiful of the town.

back in the day

Here's one of the slides of my grandparents in Rome.

Going through these old slides has done two things: 1) reinstated my creative side of the brain to start taking photos again, and 2) revived my desire for travel. Since my grandfather was in the military, they lived in quite a few places around the world, and while I don't know if I could handle the constant change and leaving things behind so often, I do want to get back out and start seeing the world again. One of the spots they lived was Hawaii, therefore...check! Doing that one next month. Also they spent a lot of time in Italy, since they lived in Naples for a few years. And just as soon as the euro goes down, then I will hit up that part of the world. I hope. But I can't complain at all, since I'm still planning my trip down to Nicaragua in April. The lovely Anita is going to go with me, and we are going to volunteer with an organization that teaches photography to disadvantaged children. We are thrilled, to say the least.

And it gives me warm weather to look forward to as the chill sets in here in Telluride. There is a bite in the air and while I do enjoy a crisp breeze, I am concerned that it is already this cold in the beginning of October. Right now, I'm in my office wearing my parka because I don't know where the heater is, if there is one. There must be one though. I'll find it if it kills me.

To help with the transition into winter (or to make it more shocking upon my return) we're heading back to the Bay Area in two weeks for the off-season. I can't wait! I'm already making lists of what I want to do and where I want to shop and eat. I'm excited for my long-awaited reunion with places like H&M and Zachary's Pizza. The excitement....

brrrr

I know it's only 8am and it's usually colder in the mornings, but still, this scares me.

vintage slides

When my dad was here, he brought boxes of old slides that his parents had taken that were stored away collecting dust. Now that I have my scanner, I can put them all online for the family to see, and I'm having a ball. These photos are amazing. It is such a trip to see all these photos from so long ago of these people who never knew what was to come in the future, which is what we are experiencing now. Crazy! There I go talking about time again...which I could go on about for days. But this is fun. There will be many many more (I'm talking 4 cases of them) so it may be a slow process, but I'll be sure to share any highlights as I go along. (this one shown is in Yosemite circa 1959) You can see the first batch on my flickr site in the meantime.

i'm cold

It's been an eventful week. Dad was in town and pulled in with a kidney stone (timing is amazing sometimes) so he had to spend some of his time here at the beautiful Montrose hospital (sarcasm), but raved about the kind nurses and the generous supply of morphine. He's better, and we spent a lot of the weekend making sure he was ok, not exerting too much energy, drinking enough fluids, and not thinking about the huge apparatus they had put inside of him until it was removed yesterday. Gross. He was a sport, and we were able to enjoy some sights, including all the foliage and the emergence of freezing weather. It's cold! No more flip flops - it's official. Unfortunately. I have spent much time lately shopping for winter weather, which is do-able now that I have a taste of how cold it will be. I'm scared.

A few updates on my life to report:

I'm moving. Within Telluride - don't worry! I don't think I've shared the fact that I haven't slept since I've moved into my current condo because my upstairs roommate's bathroom is directly above me and he wakes up at all hours of the night to go to the bathroom, run the sink, flush the toilet, etc. which creates sounds similar to a running waterfall in my room. Vertical piping is a seriously bad idea - who thought of that one? Honestly. So for my sanity, I have been looking for a new place, and I found one thank goodness. I will have my own studio and it's adorable. It has no shared walls, a balcony, is on the quiet side of town, and has slanted walls which I love for some reason. I will be moving in when I get back to Telluride after the off-season.

Also - I got a job for the winter. I will be working as a concierge part time at the ski club in order to get my free ski pass. There is the potential for tips, which is great, and it should be exciting up in the Mountain Village when the ski runs are open. I'm excited. I'll still be working with the film festival part time, which is ideal with my desire for many part-time jobs rather than one full-time one. Nice. And I will seriously be getting the website up to sell my photos.

And that's about it for the moment. Except for the fact that I'm addicted to Mexican food. That's a new development.

rainy sundays

It rained today. And actually snowed a little! Fun! Dad's here and we went on a drive up the east end of town and I took photos from the backseat of the car, safe from the rain. And the photos came out kinda cool. Lots of blurry and rainy stuff, which resulted in many pleasant surprises. Especially with all the changing colors of the tree leaves.

paparazzi, but not

I've been up to my ears in festival photos the past week and thought I'd share one of the more exciting ones, as it shows interesting people. And who doesn't like celebrities? If one would like to call them that. It's David Fincher on the left, director of Seven, Panic Room, the upcoming Curious Case of Benjamin Button, and interestingly (as I just found out on IMDB), many of Madonna's vintage music videos, such as Vogue, Oh Father and Express Yourself. I like him even more now. Jean Simmons in the middle - screen legend and amazing lady. And Jeff Goldblum, famous (at least in my eyes) from the bathroom scene in Jurassic Park, one of my favorites - Igby Goes Down, and The Fly - creepiest movie ever. Greg Kinnear is three people to the left, but it was too difficult for me at the time to get them all in. Sorry. You'll have to see my other photos to see him. Although you probably already know what he looks like.

the town is on fire

How beautiful is this? I went on a hike yesterday morning and brought my camera so I could get shots of the foliage. There are more on my flickr site if you want to take a look. It's so gorgeous. I'll be taking some more this week before it all dies and turns depressing.