Learning From Mistakes - Minimalist Winter Backpacking

I thought I’d dig up an old trip of mine for this week’s post.  Several years back I was feeling pretty stir crazy in October, it had been over 40 days since I’d spent a night outside and that particular year I seemed to have the camping itch even worse than usual.  So early one Saturday in late October I tossed a handful of things into a backpack and drove up to the snowy Rockies. Read more

3 Huge Figures of the Denver Design Community

Jamie: you are behind on blog posts my friend

Greg: i know

Greg: want to write one?

Jamie: hmmmm

Jamie: might want to post this, 3 huge figures of the Denver design community speaking tonight at MCA

Jamie: http://blog.seanklassen.com/my-awesome-friends/applied-ideas-volume-3/

Stephen Colbert - Single Malt Scotch Advice

Stephen Colbert you and your writers are genius.

Hey, Single Malt Scotch, you’re thirty years old. When are you going to settle down and get married… to my stomach.

5 Best National Parks in the Continental US for Photography

5.  Rocky Mountain National Park - Taking photos of alpine mountain settings usually involves a very heavy pack that gets heavier with each foot fall, once you’ve packed up a tent, food, stove, sleeping bag, clothes, and other extras, by this time the camera either doesn’t fit or you just can’t bear to add the extra weight of lenses, tripods, and multiple camera bodies.  Rocky Mountain National Park has the solution for this.  Trail Ridge Road runs for ~30 miles above tree line providing loads of access to trail heads that start above tree line allowing you to get right at the alpine goods.  The park opens early too so you can come in to capture the alpineglow at sunrise.  The parks lakes and stark mountain peaks are so varied that people will often ask “Where did you take that?!?” Read more

December Urban Monarch Book Club

Two books have caught my attention for the next Urban Monarch book club.  Both of these are recent releases of novels that are decades old.  Relevant though still today.  

• Metropole
• Inverted World

Which one would you like to read? Any alternate suggestions?

Holiday Gadgetry

I’ve been compiling an Urban Monarch holiday gift guide for the 2008 season.  I’ve got most of the slots filled, but I’m looking for a few more items.  Any gadgets you’re longing for this holiday season?  Anything shiny that has your eye?  What are you wishing to unwrap this year?

No Laptop, Will Travel

Today is a monumentous occassion.  I’m leaving for Dallas for the weekend and I’m not bringing my laptop.  For the past four months I’ve been working 60-80 consistently.  For the year before that, I worked remotely.  So, no matter when I travelled the laptop was in tow.  This weekend, it is the first time in years this has occurred.  Amazing.

Burn off Fat in the Cold; Go Snowshoeing

Winter is always a problem, during spring, summer and fall there’s more than enough stuff to do in the mountains or even around town that’s outside and physically challenging.  Once the cold rolls I want to fire up the xbox far more than I want to step on the scale.  Winter just didn’t seem to provide a lot of opportunities for exercise.  Skiing is expensive and there’s always congestion traffic in order to get up there and most back-country sports require a huge dollar and time investment in order to get started.   Several years ago I stumbled upon a craigslist ad for some snowshoes and found them surprisingly cheap.  My original idea was to rip the crampons (metal spikes that go under your feet for walking/climbing on snow) off of them to make some cheap mountaineering boots.  Instead I discovered the best winter activity out there. Read more

UM Book Club - Little Brother by Cory Doctorow Part IV

Pages 181 - 266 (Ch 17-end)

In the final reading section the book is quick paced.  I found myself fervently consuming the remaining pages all in one sitting.  I was so caught up in the story, my mind moved from the analyzation of the book to the plot and character interaction.  This has definitely served as a testament of Doctorow’s writing.  I’m looking forward to reading more of his work.

Marcus and Ange meet with the journalist Barbara to divulge all of the information on the prison and the following xNet.  Immediately following the meeting, Marcus starts receiving emails from hacker turned DHS agent Masha.  As a side note, everytime I read that name a certain website comes to mind.  

Fearing his security, Marcus and Ange plan to go underground with Masha’s guidance.  Things go awry and Marcus backs out of the agreement.  Zed comes back and serves again as a guide to Marcus.  Shortly after Marcus is whisked back to the prison, undergoes torture, and is rescued by Barbara and a team of local law enforcement fellows.  Charges are mostly dropped, and Marcus lives happily ever after with Ange working on a non-profit derivative of the xNet work.  

This book serves its intention well.  It renewed my excitement about technology and opened my eyes a bit more to things going on in current news.  Suddenly I’m paying more attention to global stories about Australia’s interim terrorist prison and local stories about the operation of government funded security cameras in my neighborhood.

Tasty Whiskey Drink

1 part bourbon (Jim Beam)
3 parts cherry energy drink (Bing)

Crazy delicious!

Dear People at the Grocery Store

I need a bus pass to get to work.  I had plenty of time to get one and get to work should 10 of you not decided that you needed to return your carpet clearner, get quarters for laundry, cash in your lottery winnings, and tender your coinstar receipt. People cashing welfare checks, I have nothing to say to you.