party/celebration

Kaboom!

Purty

My 4th of July weekend started off with a bang! Thursday evening we went to Green Gables country club for our now semi-traditional fireworks viewing. Friday morning started immediately at 9:30 with beer chugging contests for the 3rd annual beer olympics. Pictures of last years beer olympics (aquatic version) can be found somewhere around here. This year’s events consisted of:

  • Feats of Strength – The Keg Toss
  • Feats of Skill – Beer Can Basketball
  • Feats of Speed – The Beer Chug Relay
  • Feats of Sensory Agility – The Blind Man’s Beer
  • Feats of Coordination – The One Handed Egg Toss & Beer Chug
  • The girlfriend and I, appropriately name team “Chugs & Kisses”, came in dead last. Though we did come in a very close second on the Blind Man’s Beer event. After the beer olympics I headed home for a nap while went to pick up friends from the airport. We then went to Dutch’s annual 4th Of July party where we celebrated the night away and overstayed our welcome. This is the party where G and I met so it’s sort of an anniversary of sorts for us.

    Sparklers

    On Saturday we had an all day BBQ at our house with new, old, and out of town friends. It was a good time. I over cooked the turkey burgers and stayed up way too late.

    Sunday I slept. A lot.

    A Tall Cold One

    Well WSP at Redrocks this year was once again amazing. They broke the record with more consecutive sellout shows at redrocks than any other band and the Mayor proclaimed Friday as an official Widespread Panic Day. No, seriously.

    Here’s a stream of Saturday’s show.

    I had a blast. Great company. Perfect weather. Incredible set list. It’s weird cause it seems like I always get a Talking Heads cover. This year it was “Life during Wartime”. The widespread shows are always one of my favorite parties of the year. Instead of bragging about here on Artifacting (too late?), I’ll do like I did last year and let a bunch of other blogs tell you how amazing the show was:

  • Two-month-old Ari almost made to the show but was foiled in the last minutes. Fortunately Dad got to go though. Next year Ari!
  • Two-year-old Evan, however, did make it to the show.
  • The Joker never fails to supply some of the best coverage of shows in the Denver area (This time on Coventry instead of Bathtub Gin).
  • MacG came in from out of town and nearly as much fun as I did. Worth visiting for the pretty girls in bikinis at red rock pictures.
  • Amber, over at Westword, hates jam bands but finds out that Widespread has a lot more than noodling to offer.
  • Zig is traveling around the country and made it out to this weekend’s shows.
  • And Alan in Alabama regrets not going.
  • A Lifetime In 10 Weeks

    The last couple of months have been pretty crazy/amazing/profound. So much has happened that, I’ll probably never remember it all, and truthfully, that doesn’t bother me. In some ways I have a tinge of regret for not having taken the time to write it all down as it happened or shortly there after. If not just so I have it archived somewhere. But in reality, some of it I don’t know how to write about – i don’t have the words to fit the experience. Some of it I don’t care about. And some of it I simply don’t care to remember.

    So instead I’m going to cop-out and make a list of some of the major and minor events of the past 10 weeks in no particular order and just leave it at that. I can only hope my life remains as eventful and that I take the time to write about it afterward.

    I went to my first honky tonk.
    I saw Built To Spill play again.
    I’ve been to the hospital three times for three different individuals. Two of them in the emergency room. One fatal.
    I met family members I have never met before and most likely will never meet again.
    I spent a long weekend at my timeshare in Vail.
    I went to a mini-family reunion and ski vacation in Breckenridge.
    I suffered through a 150-hour work week.
    I took a full week vacation.
    A loved one died in my arms. It was probably one of the most weighty and profound experiences in my life to this point.
    I did my time in the back of a cop car in Henryetta, Oklahoma.
    I had the pleasure of staying in a giant mountain mansion with six bedrooms, four bathrooms, two hot tubs, and ski in ski out access.
    My car was hit by a kid who had his drivers license for a measly two days. He ended up totaling his car a week later.
    I Was invited over by complete strangers for a mardi gras party/steak dinner.
    Somehow fit in about eight days of skiing.
    Saw a friend who I haven’t seen since his wedding.
    The kitchen remodel was completed.
    Mom came to town for a visit.
    A few birthday parties were celebrated.
    I got fall down drunk with a co-worker.
    And lots of other various sundriness and ephemera.

    Thanking New York: Day Two

    I had a slow leisurely morning on my second day in NYC. Taking time to enjoy my coffee, finish my book, and have a nice breakfast. Then I jumped headfirst into the chaos that is Times Square on Black Friday.

    P1030740

    I relieved my crowd-induced-anxiety by heading over to Madison Square Park where I enjoyed the, well-disputed-best-burger-in-New-York-City, at the Shake Shack. I was a little surprised they were actually open this late in the season.

    After that it was off to have a look at two of my favorite buildings in the city. The Flat Iron building
    And the American Radiator building.

    Afterwards I headed over to the Freemans. I wanted to check out this little secret gem hidden away in an ally of the LES. It was cool, but veering on too cool. I stayed for a couple of beers before heading to Lorely for a tall glass of German suds and the meeting of friends and family.

    Then it was off to our big dinner. For reasons I won’t get into we had a “break the bank” expense budget that had to be spent and it was my girlfriend’s parents 40th anniversary. We also had reservations at Perry St. This was a Jean-Georges Vongerichten (his blog) joint. He’s is probably one of the most famous chefs in NYC. And this was probably the best meal I ate all year (and probably in the top ten meals I’ve eaten ever). We went haywire in this place ordering several appetizers, all kinds of special cocktails, desserts, wines and entrees (grilled tenderloin of beef with herbal spinach and liquid gruyere for me). It was wonderful for everyone. The restrooms were out of toilet paper though. Not the type of thing you’d expect from a place like this.

    Afterwards we to Turks & Frogs which I believe was having a sewage problem. I have no idea why we stayed there so long but the experience was disappointingly if not for the company. We quickly scuttled over to The Otheroom. This place was great. The music was perfect all night, the atmosphere was fun, dim and cozy, the people were really cool, the women were hot and the men were gay (mostly). We stayed here till about three am.

    Our adventure home included three taxi rides, a car accident, the new jersey transit system, some tears, getting list in Secaucus, and a $60 cab fair. Ouch.

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