"Interim Nebraska AD Osborne fires Callahan"

It look less than 15 minutes, reports say. On a sunny Saturday morning, after leading Nebraska to two losing seasons out of his four coached at the university, Big Tom has sent Little Bill packing. Those two losing seasons were the first of their kind in more than 45 years for a football program that's fallen a long way during the last 10 years. And while many people believe the outcome of Friday's game could do nothing to change todays decision, Callahan didn't help his cause - even a little bit.

I witnessed Bill's last hoorah yesterday in Boulder. The game was covered on ABC, and to let you know the general sentiment, I saw people holding signs that read:

Adios
Bill
Callahan.

One of these signs was black and gold, the other red and white. I don't think very many people are upset about this one, including Callahan, who'll pick up a nice $3m + buyout for his troubles. Anyone interested in a new job?

...And I'm back.

My uncle just introduced me to Shelfari this weekend, and if you consider yourself much of a reader - or even just someone with a passing interest in books - you should think about joining. It's an online networking site that allows you to share the books you're reading/have read/want to read with your friends, family and anyone else who thinks books are neat. It's also a great place to find your next read. For example, if your name is Mike D, maybe you could expand your wholly liberal views on, well, everything, by picking up something by an author named Ayn Rand - just an idea.

And that's how it works. Here's my shelf.

I'll get back to you as soon as possible

My blogs don't usually get too deep into what's really happening in my life, and this one won't be much of an exception.

Last weekend, Jacque and I went hiking up Bear Creek Canyon (in Mt Falcon Park) in search of what we'd heard was an old Elk's Lodge up a side canyon. After negotiating Bear Creek and hiking for a few minutes, we came upon the remains of what was listed in Jefferson County's anthropological register of the park as nothing more than "an unfinished homestead or other building." That's not exactly the analysis for which we'd hoped, but nonetheless, we had a great time on a beautiful Sunday afternoon.



On Tuesday night, we saw Neil Young on his Chrome Dreams tour at the Wells Fargo Theater. It's an intimate 5,000 seat affair, but the sound quality was outstanding and Neil Young's doing alright, too. After seeing Bob Dylan a few times during the last five years, I expected a similar performance (old, decrepit, out-of-tune, unintelligible, difficulty moving on his own, etc.), but was blown away by his clarity - both physical and mental. The sets seemed to speak to my emotional state at the time - ah, the power of music.



set list

Yesterday I enjoyed my first "friendsgiving" with a few friends from college. Laura and Rachel, again, thanks. I'm sure everyone had a great time. Between flag football, guitar hero, beer pong and copious amounts of great food, how could you not? I'll be back next year...

It's snowing in Colorado. Well, that's not entirely true, but it has snowed - a lot. In fact, four ski resorts are already open; winter is upon us. This is only important to me because I haven't done much more than see snow from a distance for a long time. I've missed it...

Near Fremont Pass.

I've missed a lot during the past year or so, actually, and transitioning back to the "real world" has been a balancing act I sometimes feel like I'm struggling to master. Between a new job, a new female friend, and a strong desire to see and do everything, I find myself only making brief stops at my apartment to change clothes, pick up and/or drop off books, shower, and occasionally sleep. I wish I could pay rent based on actual occupancy time. I think it'd be about $54/month.

Step Out to fight diabetes.

I'd like to thank all of my friends and family who helped me raise money for the American Diabetes' Association's annual Step Out to fight Diabetes walk. I'd also like to thank the aforementioned "new female friend" - her name is Jacque - for showing and signing me up for the walk, as well as for supporting me by choosing to walk with me. It was a bittersweet event for me; at times I felt near tears, at others excited to be part of a fight to end something that's played an enormous role in my own life. Again, thanks to everyone who chose to support this cause.

Loveland Pass.

(Just an aside. I've received about 5 text messages while writing this blog reminding how great Nebraska's defense is playing this season. Thank you, I hadn't noticed. I think Big Tom is going to re-tool the Big Red after this season, and tackling may again become part of the agenda, right after he fires everyone on the coaching staff.)

We're not as tough as we look.

After the walk, Jacque and I headed west to Grand Junction on the western slope of Colorado to get out of the city, visit her aunt and uncle and hike around the Colorado National Monument. Between baseball and football games, we cooked Indian food and enjoyed being inside when the weather outside wasn't so hot. We finally made it onto the monument late Sunday as the skies cleared. It was cold but clear, crisp but beautiful. It was the first time I'd really been out of a city for a long time, and it was great.

Colorado National Monument.

We left Grand Junction Monday around noon and decided to take the long route back to Denver. Instead of traveling I-70, we headed south toward Aspen and the Maroon Bells, which were covered in snow after the weekend's weather. Independence Pass was (remarkably) still open, so we headed up and over and through a lot of snow. The sun was out but it was still well below freezing on the summit. Of course that didn't prevent us from taking a few pictures... We ate dinner that night at The Beau Jo's pizza in Idaho Springs. Just a recommendation, stay away from the gluten-free wheat crust. It ruins the pizza.

I'm just that happy to be at the Maroon Bells again.

At Jefferson County, I feel like I'm finally being paid to act like the 5-year-old boy I once was. This week we had bulldozer training and I spent an entire afternoon pushing dirt around a construction sight. The previous week I helped clear a clogged culvert with a backhoe. When we're not driving heavy machinery, we've been repairing some of the damaged trails and spending a lot of time outside - and it's been a great few weeks to spend outside.

World Series game 3. Photo courtesy of Andrew Schaefer and Schaefer Photography, LLC.

As some of you know, the Colorado Rockies made it to the World Series this year. While they didn't perform as well as anyone'd hoped, I was fortunate enough to attend the first World Series game in Coors Field history, thanks to my good friend Andrew Schaefer. Due to his flexible work schedule (he's a wedding photographer, if you know anyone getting married soon), he was able to sit in front of his computer for three hours one afternoon last week and get tickets to each of the scheduled three games in Denver. While the Rockies were swept from the Series, the experience was unmatched. Our seats allowed for wide-angle viewing of the game, which was exciting until Brian I-Don't-Ever-Want-to-Pitch-for-the-Colorado-Rockies-Again Fuentes did what he does best, which is not keeping a close game close. The loss was disappointing, but it was well worth the $101 ticket (yeah, Andy, I swear I'm good for the balance of my ticket. I get paid Monday.)

Plans are starting to come together for a trip to...


Check these guys out, they used to be the Refreshments. Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers.

Maroon Bells, mid-October.