Boulder Confidential

Come on over to new site

2009-08-27T11:28:00.001-06:00

I've temporarily stopped posting here in favor of my new site, The Boulder Reporter, which you can find at www.boulderreporter.com. Come on over. It's a lot more up-to-date.

A drought-ending snowstorm

2009-03-26T11:20:00.007-06:00

Early this morning, the prolonged winter drought on Colorado's Front Range ended. This is a view of our patio -- no meetings in our "conference room" today. More than a foot at noon and expected to keep snowing all day and evening. Trees, grass and flowers rejoice!

Deep photography: Alan Rabold

2009-02-03T00:55:00.003-07:00

Video of a reception for the photography of Boulder photographer Alan Rabold, January 7, 2007, at the Dairy Center for the Arts, Boulder, Colorado.

Why I don't watch "Lost"

2009-01-14T23:48:00.001-07:00

It's simple: I'm not smart enough. I've tried. Wifey's all excited because a new season is starting. I, alas, must take a pass. The plot is too convoluted, not to mention that I don't care about the largely unattractive characters. But the smartness issue is the one that pains me. It's the same reason I don't play bridge, or chess. Why after I finish reading something I'm hard-pressed to recite to you more than a fraction of what I've read. Sigh.

Then come the invidious comparisons to George W. Bush. He an alumni son at Yale, I at Princeton a year earlier. He a Harvard MBA, I a Masters Degree from Harvard, across the river, a year earlier. And, well, the world (except for the truly uninformed) now know how lacking in brainpower he is. Alas.

Repeat after me: I can write, I'm well educated, I've had fairly high-level involvement in the business world, in high tech and in the media. I CAN hatch that great entrepreneurial idea, and execute on it. To paraphrase our new President: Yes I Can!

Rare wintertime fire hits Boulder Jan 7

2009-01-08T01:37:00.003-07:00

I went out and tried to photograph the Old Stage Road Fire that claimed about 3,000 acres northwest of Boulder on the night of January 7, 2009. The photo above shows the view from Broadway and Lee Hill Road at about midnight. Below a video from the same spot.

Spring into summer

2008-05-21T14:02:00.001-06:00

I wait and I wait and finally summer comes. It happens right around May 20 every year, the time when the leaves actually emerge from the tree branches in Boulder. The possibility of a night that actually feels warm, summerlike. This year, in keeping with the diminished expectations of the latter Bush Years, we took a modest driving trip in early May to Bryce and Zion National Parks in Utah, glorying in spring weather, hiking, asking around in towns to see if any polygamists lived nearby (they did). It was a lovely beginning of summer.

Soon, the 90-degree days will begin, and we'll decide at mid-morning: a little air conditioning today? I pine away for Mexico, but several Walter Mitty fantasies of going there did not result in action (nothing beyond looking at air fares and almost hitting the "buy" button).

Holiday snowstorm

2008-01-01T09:58:00.001-07:00

For some reason still not fully known to me, this has been an enchanted holiday season. The biggest single thing, I guess, was an amazing snowstorm on Christmas Day. It was said to be the most snow our area has had on Christmas in 100 years. Not that much, really, maybe 8 inches, but it was light, fluffy, somehow extraordinarily beautiful as we walked in our nearby foothills that afternoon. Making our way around town on that and subsequent days, at events and routine rounds, we found friends and strangers alike somehow all aglow, exclaiming: "Wasn't it beautiful?" All childlike again, we were quietly amazed that a winter snowstorm could thrill us so! Another smaller storm followed two days later, coaxing the snow-covered landscape into seeming eternal whiteness. A bright near-full moon on those days took the glory into nighttime. By night, we and our nearby loved ones stared outside at the glowing snow from the warmth of our houses. So far, I'm in love with winter, a new or rekindled feeling for me. And now the New Year is born, this morning, and the world looks bright in the blue-sky sunshine.

Season of spiders and weeds

2007-08-28T19:49:00.002-06:00

This is the time when I know that fall is coming. For some reason, spiders proliferate inside the house, along with a handful of furtive, fast-flying baby flies. Outside, the weeds grow faster, as if sensing impending autumn, and the trees go into a final growth spurt. Nights grow cooler. The last warm night of the season was probably two nights ago, and we reveled in it on the patio. Last night was cool, and we fled a light rain at the dinner hour and moved somewhat somberly into the dining room. Today, a wasp was angry as I moved into his turf to grab the hose. So he stung me on the side of my knee. Ow! (The pain vanished in a minute; he wasn't that tough.)

Enchanted days of summer

2007-07-16T20:08:00.001-06:00

Our summer is going well, albeit a bit routinely. Saturday Farmers Markets, various birthdays and parties, daily dog walks and seemingly constant dog-sitting for friends, me underachieving in my work and liking it, Michele buzzing about hummingbird-like with both her PR work and her life (gardening, friends, piano, etc.). Our charmed life remains in stark contrast to the larger world scene. There, the evil deeds of the War Crime Regime are poisoning the US's future. Talk of an attack on Iran is persistent, though many doubt that it will happen. If it does happen, various quasi-apocalyptic scenarios could play out. Are these enchanted days of summer the calm before the storm?