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Do you think the dead we loved ever truly leave us? ~ Dumbledore

So I am still over here in Gunnison. I did manage to get out yesterday to visit the Butte in its last week of service for this season. Let me tell you… the skiing here is still off the hook. They got 8″ (yeah) of somewhat heavy but actually pretty nice pow. I scoff at the 8″ number since there were times I was knee deep in the stuff and last time I checked my knees were over 8″ off the ground but who’s counting, right?

And to top it off, the Butte has this killer ticket deal so I am skiing at $20 per day. Ridunculous.

Teo bowl was the goods but the Funnel was skiing really well too. They also had closed one of the runs on the front side because a mama bear and her two cubs had recently come out of their den so they were being given some breathing space. Kinda neat.

It is snowing again now so tomorrow could be awesome. I may get out for some more turns. We’ll see about how things go here at home.

I’ll keep you posted.

~stubert.

They take away our freedom in the name of Liberty. ~ Stiff Little Fingers

Sorry for the lack of posts, boys and girls… I have been helping to take care of some family stuff about which I can’t really talk.

Anyway, I have been over to Gunnison several times in the past few weeks. Just got back yesterday and am heading back over on Saturday. Needless to say, I am getting a little tired of that drive.

I did get in another day at Crested Butte last time I was over. The snow there is still good. Springy but good. I went to Eldora today for a few turns and would say about the same for the conditions there. Even more Springy than the Butte but that is to be expected. I didn’t ski particularly well but am pretty exhausted from my last Gunny trip.

Rach is being the world’s most awesome person ever by taking a shift over at the parental units’ house. She relieved me yesterday and I’ll do the same for her on Saturday. Pretty soon we’ll just be waving and flashing each other as we pass by on the highway. Not good times. I prefer her nudity in closer proximity to my own. But you probably could have surmised that.

So today was number 59. I was hoping to have a bit more than that by now but circumstances have conspired against my quest for 75 days this season. It is still doable, but we’ll see. The Enduro is officially in the “maybe” column at this point as well. I suppose I’ll keep you posted on that and it will depend on how the next two weeks play out. I am guessing that 2 weeks of minimal skiing and sleep deprivation won’t do much for my fitness but I suppose stranger things have happened.

I sold my dirt bike to Pete (though it has been acting up so I haven’t yet cashed his check) and my BMW R1150GS is on the market as well. I haven’t been riding it much of late and am probably going to combine the two bikes into one with the purchase of an ’08 KLR650. Holding off until I get the GS sold, however as making room in the garage is one of the chief goals.

So that isn’t about it but that is all I have time for right now. I did manage to go on a run while in the ‘Sack last week (9 miles, 1:20) and am still contemplating a 50-miler but am now considering doing something silly and marginally supported vs. a big race. I’ll keep you posted on that as things progress.

Ok. Don’t you go a-changin’.

~stubert.

I need to come up with a quote and I just don’t have it in me. ~ me

…six months makes. About this time six months ago, I was in the midst of a colossal melt-down somewhere between Twin Lakes and Half Moon. Not sure I really have still fully recovered. I know I still have three toenails that haven’t come completely back to normal. The Leadville 100 is the gift that keeps on giving. I am still thinking about doing the new 50-mile race this summer but really haven’t been on the right training schedule. We’ll see what happens.

Today I jammed up the hill to the Basin (day 39 – skied my age again this year) and spun no-stoppers on the Enduro circuit. Essentially started on Gauthier and worked my way East. The Spine was absolutely buffed but the rest of the front side was in less-than-stellar shape. There was no one there today (weird), but clearly the area got some traffic over the weekend. Lots-o-bumps. I rolled a lap or two down Slalom and Powder Keg and then hit ‘Zuma Bowl to check that action out. Not sure if I should be honest here or not but really, I am not that impressed. The crowds seem to love it; however, so what the hell do I know? I didn’t ski very well but had a good time and was able to turn ~12 minute laps fairly consistently without really trying. So that is encouraging.

I am planning to head over to Gunnison on Wednesday. Going to visit the parents and try to get in a couple of days at the Butte. I’ll keep you posted on that.

Movies:
The Good Sheppard
Beavis and Butthead Do America
Dog Town and Z Boys
Indulgence
Riding Giants

Ok. Rocketh on.

~stubert.

You are only as old as you act. ~ me

So I managed to log yet another milestone this week… I turned 39. Whee! Not sure exactly what to say about that except that it is divisible by 1, 3, 13 and 39 which um…. is better than say, 37 which isn’t divisible by shit which somehow makes it “Prime” which reminds me of the crap movie, “The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie” which you should avoid at all costs because it was dreadful and is further evidence that the Academy wouldn’t know a good movie if one came up and bitch-slapped it with a week-dead halibut. But I digress.

So this year had its ups and downs but I must say that overall, I am going to slot 39 in the plus column. One shouldn’t dwell on the bad stuff but take it in stride and get on with things. At least that is what a fortune cookie told me once. Or maybe it was an episode of Oprah. Nah… couldn’t have been Oprah. I wouldn’t be caught dead watching that show.

I remember back when I was a kid and how impossibly old 40 sounded. Well, things have changed a lot – even this past week Pete and I were talking about how 40 really isn’t that old anymore. Perhaps this comes from an altered perspective of being on the cusp of the big four-oh, but I don’t know. I think that people these days just don’t stop doing stuff like in days past. I know more 40+ people who still get out and rip it up in any number of disciplines and I am not sure that was the case back in the 70s. But maybe I just run with a bit less restrained crowd.

I know that in the past year, I have had the opportunity to push myself physically and mentally well beyond anything I have ever before accomplished. I am skiing like a champ. Almost keeping up with Luke, even. Every time I go out, I experience something new and different and exciting. I ran 73 miles at Leadville – well short of the 100-mile goal, but damn. 73 friggin’ miles! And I am planning to do it again.

This year I started a design and development business with Luke (Forty105 – don’t go checking for it online because we have been too busy to actually create an actual site). We have been going strong since August (but would welcome referrals if you know someone who needs web-work or other advertising/marketing items).

I have also had the pleasure of working with bunnies on a regular basis over the past year. Rach co-manages the Colorado House Rabbit Society (coloradohrs.com) and I help out on a regular basis. The work she does is just awesome. Not sure how many bunnies she placed in permanent homes this past year but I know it was a lot. Really cool.

There were some losses this year as well. My grandmother passed away in February and we lost two of our beloved kitties (Oliver and Samantha) and two bunnies (Rockshot and Houdinni). We also gained a crazy kitten (BZ) and have a house full of bunnies to help us cope with our losses.

All in all, it was a very full year. I was able to travel to Barcelona for business and stay a few extra days to tour the city. Pete’s uncle, Tom, showed me around and I got to really get a good perspective on an amazing city. You should put it on your list of places to visit.

So don’t sweat the years. As Thundercleese once said, “Time is an abstract concept, created by carbon-based life-forms to monitor their ongoing decay.”

Do stuff. ~stubert.

I feel like a hundred dollars. ~ Irwin Fletcher

Ok. You know you feel like ass when you can’t even manage to update your blog. Or maybe that is the other way around, I can’t remember.

In any event, the last week has been… challenging. I came back from SLC with some sort of demon virus and managed to quickly pass it on to my lovely wife. Apparently I am just too damned sexy or something. I think she was just being sweet and it is really that I was spreading Stu cooties all over the house. But I suppose we can stick with the “too sexy” excuse for the time being.

So aside from hacking out a lung every 6 hours and guzzling cough syrup (mmmmmm Dexamethoraphan-ey), I have been working and watching movies. I did go ski on Monday because I simply couldn’t stand it any more but other than that, I have been pretty boring. Sexy boring, but boring.

Oh, and I caucused last night. Cast my vote for Edwards, which represented a solid 3% of those caucusing in my district and then proudly re-cast my vote for Obama. So I see it as kindof a dual victory.

I would like to go on record to state that this whole primary/caucus/electoral college system is perhaps the dumbest thing ever conceived and anyone tells you otherwise has been blinded by old John Wayne movies, too many whiskey sours, or both. Seriously… back in the 1700s, this was, I am sure, pretty kickass but in the age of 24-hour “news” channels and the internet, can’t we just move to a popular-vote-wins-all sort of deal with a second-choice back up system or some damned thing? And though caucusing was mildly amusing, I would prefer to just go cast my vote, in secret, and go home to do clean the tub or something. Anything.

So movies… I have definitely watched quite a few over the past few days. Here’s the list with a short-not-always-sweet “review”:

• Eagle vs. Shark: When nerds mate wackiness ensues. Pretty amusing.
• V for Vendetta: Written in the 80s. Set in the future. Sadly talking about today. Good movie.
• The Bourne Identity: The first of a solid series of 2-hour chase scenes. Pretty good stuff.
• Pirates of the Caribbean – World’s End: Let’s hope series end as well. Not so good.
• The King of Kong: Who knew video games were so serious? Watch this one.
• Le Samourai: Good Alain Delon film. So good that apparently doesn’t have a copy that works.
• The Namesake: Good storytelling. A bit on the sad side, however.
• Thank You for Smoking: Meh. The book was better.
• 28 Weeks Later: More zombies than you can shake a stick at. An fast buggers too! I guess brains have lots of energy. Though they weren’t eating just brains. I dunno. Just turn yours off when you watch this and you’ll be fine.

I think there were a few more in there but that’s all I could remember.

Ok. I am feeling a lot better and am heading to the Basin or Vail or somewhere tomorrow. I’ll keep you posted.

Don’t lick any strange doorknobs.

~stubert.