It's Better in Wyoming.

I'm sure I speak for all of KCWY13's viewers when I say, "We'll miss you, Kristen." Just when I was starting to know most of the names of the 6pm and 10pm anchors, Kristen Mosteller is apparently moving on to bigger and better things. Alas, we can only hope that B-Fitz and Walter Allen won't be next, though it does seem that they've also been strangely absent lately, too. In related news, I thought KCWY's coverage of the Bill Ayers visit was underwhelming. This AP story reports that 1,100 people endured the high security measures in order to hear Ayers speak, which seems a decent number on a snowy spring evening in our town. As Ayers pointed out, without all the publicity the crowd would have likely only been about "30 education students, and half of them probably would've been texting." Though I'm ambivalent, still, about the initial selection of Ayers as a campus speaker, I'm mostly glad for the dialogue it's created:...

This month I'm participating in another program to lower my 2011 health insurance premium. The program is about prepping for emergencies and disasters, and overall it's been a pretty crappy program, I think. I did get a little first-aid kit out of the deal, though, which came in handy when I sliced my finger chopping potatoes at the beginning of the month. Additionally, today's word of wisdom seems pretty relevant to where I'm at these days: "Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced." - James Baldwin. It's funny--or maybe not funny at all--to discover that so much of what has felt like forward progress has just been a big circle--a different circle than before, but still one that has brought me back, in a lot of ways, to where I've already been. But still, some signs of hope. On the bright side, I started learning the chords to "Tear Down the House" this weekend.

Well, the Avetts were every bit as good the second time around. My sister got me tickets back in January (a pretty damn good birthday present!), and she agreed to come along with me for the concert in Boulder on Wednesday. We found our way to Pearl Street, had some good Indian food in the basement restaurant next to the theater, and then listened to a great set of Avetts, despite the fact that they didn't play 'In the Curve' or 'Salvation Song' or 'Gimmeakiss' or 'Laundry Room' or my favorite-of-late, 'Tear down the House.' On the other hand, they did play 'If it's the Beaches' and 'Murder in the City' and 'I and Love and You' and 'The Ballad of Love and Hate,' and I guess when you've got a half-dozen amazing songs on every album it's hard to play all of the good ones in one concert. Here's a grainy clip of Scott playing the first two verses of the first Avetts song I ever heard: Yeah, it w...

According to the gmap-pedometer , the trip from my house to the airport, and back, is just under twelve miles. I haven't biked this far since the rail-trail ride last summer, but, more importantly, this trip represents my first trip on the highway. It went much better than expected, and I can imagine that a pair of slimmer hybrid tires would really get things rolling. If I'm gonna ride the 108-mile Mickelson Trail ("where the ghosts of Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane still roam," according to the SD GFP website ) with Melissa this summer, I need to start getting serious. Here's my 11.814-mile route from earlier today: Nothing fancy, but a start...

Pearl Jam has an album named vitalogy . The word comes from a latin root and a greak suffix and means, essentially, the study of life. Unlike the modern usage of the word biology-- which also means the study of life but has come to be focused on organic life--I think the word vitalogy should enter our vocabulary as a way of talking about WHY we're living rather than HOW: the study of one's course or way of life. A conscious, reflective position about why we're making the choices we're making. As in, "I don't really think that a life of pot-smoking is for me, but I understand that others' vitalogy leads them to see it as acceptable," or "My vitalogy includes a value for not intentionally hurting others." Yeah, I know that other words (like philosophy , say) cover the same basic ground, but I think that that vitalogy somehow adds something new. Yesterday I presented at a seminar for teachers in Sheridan. The drive up was spring-time bea...

he was trapped in a haircut he no longer believed in -- Billy Bragg, "King James Version"

"...the congregation's gone, the sun sets behind a weeping willow tree / the groom stands alone and watches the river run on, so effortlessly..." I do love a good cover. Apparently Tom Gabel is the frontman for the punk band Against Me! They sing the song "You look like I need a drink." I think I like 'em already.