Obsession is such a trainwreck.

So my babies. There's snow in the mountains here, which I have yet to truly comprehend; everyone here seems so very excited about the whole thing. I've been a busy little bee lately- last weekend I headed to Fort Collins (aka Fort Fun!) to see the Ditty Bops play a free! afternoon show. Little did I realize...

I was headed straight into a brewery bicycle beer freak festival! Everyone was dressed up all crazy with wigs and leotards and masks and everything else.

The Ditty Bops played and it was so much fun. Nothing better than a beer in hand, the sun shining, and some good music.

After they played the Yard Dogs Road Show performed- one part gypsy punk band, one part circus side show, one part burlesque. It was wicked. I did find it odd that a group could be so raunchy in mid-day with children present. Then again, this was definitely no ordinary beer festival- besides, who brings their kids to a beer festival? Shame on you parents!

I'm headed to New York this weekend and I'm very much looking forward to it. I know a guy there...

November, December, and January are looking to be busy months for our traveling heroine. I will be in both Rockford and Peoria, Illinois for one week each in November (I haven't been to Rockford since last Christmas! Ugh!) and again for Christmas. Tenatively, I'll be in New York in mid-November, then early December again. I'm 75% certain I'll be back in New York for a week in January for a conference. And then I'll be in Houston at the end of January. If you live in or near these places, let me know because if you're reading this, I probably want to see you.

I'm hoping with all of this going on, including the Architecture in Helsinki/Clap Your Hands Say Yeah show, my parents visit, and other assorted adventures, that the next 5-6 months will fly by. I'm ready to live in New York and be on track with my life. Colorado is nice, but this college town state of mind makes me feel....old.

I'll probably have to bring my little kitty, Napkin, back to New York in the next month or so. My cousin's spastic dog is just much too much. I have a theory that the dog may be alcoholic- or a pirate. I suspect that most pirates are actually alcoholics. That's another post entirely though. Either way, the dog is a spazz and I hate you William Wegman and your stupid non-art for making people like these dogs. As a side note, if you have a dog, don't encourage it to bark by giving it a treat when it aggressively barks at people.

That's it for me mostly, my hair is getting long again and I get a little older every day.

Coming soon: Why I think my bedroom is haunted by my great aunt, tattoos, and much, much more!

"I'm not a one trick liberal arts pony!"

I haven't been spending much time on the internet since I arrived in Colorado. My reasons being: 1. I haven't figured out the wireless internet at home and 2. I've made a concerted effort to enjoy the EFF out of this state despite that I am not a snowboarding, patchouli wearing, college student.

I always end up in places I never plan to be. Not much about my life in the last five years has been planned very well. Like the time I was supposed to be in Carbondale, but ended up in Rockford. Or Chicago, but landed in Massachusetts. Or New York, and here I am in Colorado.

Every morning, when I drive to work, my view on the horizon is sun shining on the Flatiron Mountains. Purple mountains majesty, y'all. Seriously. So that helps- I will miss my New England fall though, but the lack of trees =s the lack of pollen =s the lack of my allergies. Give and take.

The apartment complex near my work (which houses students as my office building is situated across the street from the college campus) is frequently throwing parties with some crazy live band playing covers of The Who and Smoke on the Water and one of these days I'll work up the courage to march over there and ask them where the bong is.

Its odd to be living and working in a college town- in Massachusetts I lived in and around college campuses, but they were uppity, lesbian bearing, liberal arts universities. CU is a state college full of crazy, drunk students on bicycles. Seriously, there are more bikes than people here. So going out to bars has been a funny experience- I didn't really go to "college" bars in college, I hung out at the only gay bar in town and the biker bar. So I am negotiating a new way of interacting with people. And I'm enjoying it- I can already tell which places I'll hang out at and which ones I"ll be avoiding.

Last Wednesday, feeling good from the mojitos, I walked down Pearl Street and took my shoes off and enjoyed how randomly I could have arrived at this place, this moment.

QUESTION OF THE DAY:
Recommend your favorite magazines, please. I need a few new subscriptions.

hi friends!

Good things about Colorado:
1. Lots of food. I'm shocked that people here aren't giant blimps. There is every kind of food imagineable, including my favorite franchised standbys, Noodles & Co, Fazolis, Taco Johns, and Quiznos.
2. I know which direction I'm facing. The mountains are west. This still doesn't help me navigate the roads, but I know which direction I'm headed at least.
3. The mall is called TWIN PEAKS. Sadly, I did not find Laura Palmer's killer or that funny backwards talking midget at the mall. I did find an indoor RAVE style miniputt at the mall though, which makes up for the lack of the backwards talking midget.
4. Its sunshiney. Except right now, its lightning outside.
5. I can wear whatever I want to work. Like right now, I'm wearing a coconut bra, a ballon animal hat, and a baby blue polyester skirt I picked up at the thrift store. Okay, not really. That's a lie. But I could if I felt the need to.
6. There is a skateboard park that I pass to and from work. I'm always disappointed when I see real people skateboarding because they never can do those crazy jumps and tricks like in the video game, but uhhhhhhhhhhhh...skateboard park.
7. There is a bingo and bowling two-fer here. B-I-N-G-O and bowling. Together at last. Now all they need is karaoke.
8. So much tasty local beer. Its redonkulous. No seriously, the beer here is delicious.
9. As Mark so kindly pointed out, I'm further away from the terrorists. But I thought terrorism knows no boundaries?

So then there's that.

Its been a really tiring few days. Last Tuesday was my last day at the theater, Wednesday/Thursday/Friday were spent packing and cleaning, Saturday was the 20 hour move to NYC, Sunday was the nerve inducing flight to Colorado.

So, my stuff is in New York and I'm in Boulder now. Tomorrow is the first day of my new job.

Mostly, I'm putting on a brave face hoping that this feeling of general discomfort- the one that rises when you take yourself out of your comfort zone- will subside eventually and that my nightly dreams of New York won't have me waking up in the middle of the night clawing at my heart.

I know this feeling too well. I wonder why I put myself in these situations over and over. These are dangerous thoughts- regret and wishful thinking. Thoughts lead to creation. Dangerous creations brooding about.

Right now, my goal is just to feel like myself. My poor little kitty hasn't eaten in days and hardly comes out from under the bed, so I hope that she is not depressed. Depressed Napkin.

Tomorrow night I am going to see The New Amsterdams and Mae play. It has been since before the summer came and went that I have been to see any bands play.

(PAUSE)
In all of Brad Pitt's earlier work, he speaks in the same calm, monotonous whisper-talk, an acting technique perfected earlier by one of Mr. Pitt's contemporaries and current resident lunatic in Hollywood, Tom Cruise. What the hell Brad Pitt- you are speaking in the same quiet non-tonal voice in Meet Joe Black AND Interview with the Vampire. And I do not find it soothing. Not at all.
(WE NOW RESUME OUR REGULARLY SCHEDULED PROGRAMMING)

So I am living with my cousin for the next few months. She has a BIG dog named Schmoo or Shmoo or Big Dog Don't Eat My Food, You Jerk, as I have taken to calling him. This dog has some seriously stinky farts of the "silent, but deadly" variety. My cousin is very nice- I haven't seen her since I was 8 or 9 I think.

And now I am just rambling.

I did get to see the Mork from Ork house today. Apparently its here in Boulder.

And now its 9.30pm in Colorado time and so I am tired because my body says, "Jen! It is 11.30 inside your body! Go to sleep, jerk!" So to sleep I go.

How was everyone's Labor Day?

Freecycle.

I briefly mentioned Freecycle yesterday, but I wanted speak a little more on the idea. We are a culture that throws things away now. While standing in line at the pharmacy, a man in line began telling me how he had lost his job as a repairman because the equipment his company used "wasn't worth fixing" so new replacement equipment was brought, and suddenly he was out of a job. Its the nature of our society- funny how technology is so expensive, but we have no problems throwing it out when its broken or a new model goes on sale.

Enter Freecylce. Most communities have a Yahoo Group. The idea is that you can post messages with items you are offering or items you are looking for. Realistically, you're not going to find a new iPod on Freecycle. That's not how it works. But if you don't mind fixing up a used bike, finding a nice cover for the sofa, and such you can find some really excellent stuff on Freecycle- for free!

I've received over 150 emails about the items I was giving away in the last day. I'm glad that Julia's son's class will have a microwave at lunchtime. I'm happy that Rita will be able to use that paraffin thingy I've used twice to help with her arthritis. At the end the day, a woman who works for a battered women's shelter is going to come pick up all of my old clothes.

Not everyone has a valiant cause, but I can appreciate that people have created a community of sharing, of not wasting items that are really useful. By giving my stuff away, I'm eliminating waste.

I hope you'll check out the Freecycle in your community (or surrounding areas- sometimes you can find larger groups in neighboring towns).

Oh! I totally forgot! My kitty, Napkin, was a Freecycled girl. See? You can seriously find anything on Freecycle. Including adorable cats.