Thoughts in Random Patterns

Reading Project for 2012

Now that it's almost March, I've decided it's time to start on my reading project for the year - which is to read all of the books my terrific friends gave me for my 45th birthday party back in September.  I've never had reading goals (except those Read-a-thon things in elementary school) and just read whatever catches my eye from my Infinite Pile of Books.  Sometimes I borrow from Brad's pile.  I also like to re-read books I love or read so long ago that I'm starting to forget them.  This seems to happen at an alarmingly increasing rate - the forgetting part - and I find that I see things differently each time.

I was the fortunate recipient of a plethora of books that each friend chose for me because the book was significant to them, and I think that it would be good to read those books and review them.  I didn't manage to get thank you notes written for these gifts (surprise, surprise), so this is also a way of saying how thankful I am for my friends, for books and authors, for the freedom to read whatever I want.

The first book I've grabbed from the pile is The Blind Watchmaker by Richard Dawkins, given to me by David Cohen.  I did already read Jil Cohen's gift book back in September, which was You Don't Know Sh*t, which I enjoyed so much I gave a copy to another scatological trivia-loving friend.  

Thank you, David, for the thoughtful and surely thought provoking birthday gift - 

 

Happy Winter Solstice

This year winter doesn't start until 12/22 as the solstice comes on the late side, but I've been celebrating a very un-snowy time in Keystone by hiking.  You can see the snow covered mountains in the background, but the hiking trail is almost entirely dry.  Brooks and I had a lovely time. 

 

 

 

Brad's Birthday Bash Finale

 I'm back in snowy frigid Boulder after a week in mostly sunny Scottsdale, and the memories of our friend-filled birthday celebration week are helping keep me warm.

 On Brad's actual birthday night, we had Japanese food at Sushi Roku restaurant at the W Hotel, where they did a wonderful job of making the evening special.

The happy group:

The happy couple: 

Brad wearing the beautiful scarf his mother made for him - as a headband:  

 Excellent tuna sashimi: 

 A thoroughly chocolate cake: 

 

And fireworks: 

 

 

We had a lovely experience at the Sanctuary at Camelback, playing tennis, taking advantage of the spa, and lounging by the pool and hot tub.  I've always said that I can't imagine living in a place where there isn't snow in wintertime, but I may be changing my mind! 

Flowers blooming in December: 

The view from the pool from Casa 5: 

Tennis at Casa 5: 

The living room at Casa 9: 

The best part of all, of course, was having friends and family gather together to celebrate.  We're looking forward to  next year! 

 

 

Brad's Birthday Bash Begins

We are in Scottsdale this week with a bunch of friends, celebrating Brad's 46th birthday.

View from our balcony:

Dining room for our group opening dinner at XII at Sanctuary at Camelback:

The happy group: 

The happy couple: 

 

Desert Flora

I've been in the Arizona desert for the past month.  Here are some photos of cacti and desert plants: 

  

 

Another Weekend, Another Marathon

After last weekend's Newport marathon, Brad did another one on back to back weekends in St. Louis, Missouri, completing #20.  The 50 marathons in 50 states quest is a great way to see the country, including places I wouldn't necessarily have gone to, including Bismarck, North Dakota.  I'd never been to St. Louis, and it was especially fun to be there when they're playing the world series, although we were glad the games were in Texas so we didn't have to deal with the crowds.

Brad ran #20 with Matt Shobe, who also ran the Huntsville, Alabama Rocket City Marathon with him in December 2008 for Brad's 14th marathon. In addition to being amazing (crazy?!) to run two marathons in two weekends, Brad's official time of 4:51:26 was considerably faster in the second weekend. 

Some St.Louis photos: 

 

The banner for the marathon, partially obscuring our view of the arch from the Ballpark Hilton: 

Runners from my window on the 19th floor: 

Matt and Brad after the race, looking pretty lively: 

Brad's next planned marathon is in Philadelphia in November, and will be the first one that I'm not there to sherpa for.  After 20 finishes, I figure he can manage without me?!?  

Newport Marathon

We spent the weekend with our longtime friends Warren and Ilana Katz at their house in Newport, Rhode Island so Brad could run his 19th marathon.  Warren and Brad ran the full marathon and Ilana ran the half and I cheered for them.

It rained hard when we arrived on Friday, but cleared off on Saturday and was clear but breezy during the race on Sunday. 

The ocean was quite lovely, although you can see the wind at the top of the waves in the second photo:

 

Another lovely thing about Newport is the stacked stone fences, which is often what you see in towns established in 1639. 

 

The runners before the race -

 

 Runners hitting the first hill next to one of those Newport mansions - 

Brad at the half - 

 

Taking a small break and still smiling - 

Warren at the half - 

 

Ilana at the finish of the half in an official time of 2:00:51, a personal best for her. 

Brad at the finish of the marathon with a new friend made in the final 3 miles of the race.  Brad's official time is 5:13:36.

 

Warren at the finish in a time of 5:40:46 for his first marathon ever. 

 

The gang, relieved to be standing still:

 

Next weekend Brad plans to run marathon #20 in St. Louis, Missouri.  I'll be there, cheering when it happens. 

 

Technically

I think this is the first snow of the winter, but I'm not sure it really counts.  It's more of an excuse to try out my new Leica camera -  

 

 

 

Surprised some deer at the edge of the meadow - 

 

The dogs almost knew the deer were out there - 

 

And the snow does keep coming down, so it may add up to something after all. 

Benefit for Boulder Shelter for the Homeless

If you're looking for something fun to do this Saturday night, head on over to the Dairy Center for the Arts for an evening of comedy to benefit the Boulder Shelter for the Homeless!

Bollocks, this is Boulder!

Laugh till the cows come home! A hilarious night of improv comedy! A benefit for the Boulder Shelter for the Homeless Date: Saturday, September 24, 2011 Time: 7:30pm Price: $27.00 - General Admission all proceeds benefit the homeless shelter Location: Tickets and show at www.TheDairy.org. Join us for a night of high jinks and belly laughs to raise funds for the many programs at the Boulder Shelter for the Homeless.  www.BovineMetropolis.com is coming all the way to Boulder so you don't have to go all the way to Denver. A rare treat and all ages are welcome. This is going to sell out so stop chewing your cud and join the fun. Moo! Buy your tickets now right HERE! Presented by:

Birthday Scarf

While I had a lovely birthday celebration of my 45th birthday last week, it was also my older sister's birthday on Monday 9/12.  We had a terrific sister day, with breakfast, facials, and lots of fun shopping together.

And I gave her a knitted gift that I really truly intended to finish in time for her birthday LAST year, but just didn't get it done.

I made a black mohair scarf blended with shiny neon accent colors, which is just right for her.  And it's finally finished!

 I used a single row reversible scarf pattern (and another blog post about it) from Stephanie Pearl-McPhee a.k.a. Yarn Harlot who is surely one of my favorite knitting bloggers.

 Progession in photographs: 

First photographed on August 10, 2010 - getting under way: 

 

 Photographed on August 28, 2010 - about halfway done - two weeks of knitting time left before the birthday deadline: 

 

and again on September 3rd in the sunshine at our Keystone house:

 

This yarn is hard to photograph because of the shiny neon accent yard mixed with the fuzzy black mohair: 

 
 

 

And a year later - finally finished! 

 

 

 The day between my sister's birthday and mine was a stormy rainy day, ending with this beautiful double rainbow over Eldorado Canyon that really looks like it ends in my yard: