Friends

Yesterday was another snow day for Fort Collins. Never mind that this time we only received about 1.5″ of new powder and compared to last Saturday’s two-degree day, it was positively “toasty” at 20 degrees F. It was a day where for some snow-weary people may have preferred to stay indoors.

Never fear, because there are plenty of indoor activities to do out here. Continue reading »

“We met 10 years ago when I was in Germany and Felix was in California… on the internet,” Kathrin replied when asked by a friendly young woman in the New Belgium Brewing Company who was sitting next to me about how we knew each other.

Ten years… wow! Who says the Internet doesn’t breed long-lasting, deep friendships. From the time I would be working in the CAD Loft at Stanford at 2:00am in the morning, to visits in California, Tennessee and Pittsburgh, we have kept in good touch over the years.

Happily, Kat is now engaged to Guy — a former labmate of hers during their time at Carnegie Mellon University, and a fun guy I met five years ago well before they even started dating! — and one day a couple of weeks ago they spontaneously decided that they wanted to see the mountains after living in the plains of Chicago, IL / Lafayette, IN for some time now. Continue reading »

I smiled at my friend in bewilderment as an enthusiastic, sweet-smelling woman working for the Lush Handmade Cosmetics store in Boulder, Colorado, began caressing my hands with a potent “Soft Touch Body Butter”. After all, Lisa — who had essentially dragged me in here — had been in Colorado for barely two hours and she already was getting me into trouble.

“See, doesn’t your skin feel so soft now?” asked the employee. I conceded that my hands — which are normally about as coarse as a reptile’s back — did feel as smooth as silk now.

Perhaps that was a mistake. The Lush Lady then grabbed me by the arm and proceeded to give me a whole tour of the store, extolling the efficacy of products with names such as “Youki-Hi,” “Tisty Tosty,” and “Honey I Washed The Kids.” Continue reading »

Has there a time when you have visited a loved one and you got the feeling that you brought a little bit of bad luck along with you?

In my case, I had been visiting Carolyn in Montclair, New Jersey, for just a couple of hours when things started to go wrong.

First, we were lounging on the couch as I was trying to show her some holiday photos on my iBook. One particular curiosity I was trying to show her was my dad, who was wearing a bright red, snowflake patterned Christmas shirt that he was extremely proud of. Continue reading »

“Remember,” I said over the phone to my buddy Dan before arriving at his neck of the woods in Durham, North Carolina, “we have to exercise during this weekend.”

My recent travels, after all, had not been too conducive to training — particularly for the Mardi Gras Marathon that was coming up. To begin with, there was limited time already to spend with friends and family in California. The rain and food coma-inducing holiday treats did not help matters either. Ah, excuses excuses.

Also, prior to my upcoming trip to New Jersey and New York, Carolyn had warned me that we were going to be taking life nice and easy, so I had better get in my exercise before I arrived!

Dan took my request to heart. Let me list what he made us do: Continue reading »