THE BROTHER, LELAND!!!

Leland and I in Colorado Springs, headed to the Mate Factor, the best coffee/mate shop in Colorado!

I'm picking up Leland in Sterling, CO today! He is coming for a weekend visit. I haven't seen him since my birthday, so it will be great to hang out and be with my little brother again. We're going to a Rockies game, to waterworld and who knows where else. I'm picking him and girlfriend up after I get off work at 6:30 today. Vincent might be coming with me for the drive, and when we get there we're going to go out to dinner at a little local cafe Sterling, CO. My dad says that traveling new places (I've never been to Sterling) is a way to broaden and further understand your life experience. I agree. I'm so excited to see Leland! And hopefully I'll be back in Boulder in time to hang out at Tirzah's bye-bye bash. Toshi was right when I was chatting with him on the phone yesterday "everyone's leaving and it is going to be so lonely in Boulder with all of my friends gone!"

Current book I'm reading: Harry Potter 6
Current song stuck in my head: "Grease Lightning'"

Di-di-di...DISASTER

The disaster is only for me, so really, in the grand scheme of things, it is not such a disaster. It is not so bad.

It was nothing a little wild dancing in the living room couldn't fix.
I found myself. While dancing in John's living room, then at the RedFish.
Dancing never fails to release the annoying failes of life.


Jordan, me, and Kendall dancing to some rock music, notice my rockin' sign!

And again, I'll explain later.

Current book I'm reading: Harry Potter 6
Current song stuck in my head: "Irresponsible" by Patty Page...
"Call me unpredictable, tell me I'm impractical, rainbows I'm inclined to pursue. Call me irresponsible, yes I'm unreliable, but it's undeniably true I'm irresponsibly mad for you."

Emma Rose...aka Ema Rosa and the Bike Conundrum

"We are having Scottish weather! Ah the mists, the fog! How can you not fall amorous victim to such dramatic persuasion" ~Emma Rose Miller

So today is stormy and misty. I went for a walk this morning in it and enjoyed the hundreds of little droplets of rain that speckled on my glasses. I took deep gulps of the crisp air, and took off my sweater to allow the chilly winds to run up my spine. This cool weather is divine. After having so many days of upper 90 degree weather, this "Scottish Weather" as my friend Emma calls it truly is something that a person can fall in love with. Emma Rose is leaving in less than a month to go to graduate school in Glasgow, Scotland So she needs to be in love with days like this! As do I, because I plan on visiting her! Frigid!

In other news, I locked my beautiful Trek 820 on CU campus yesterday. I had a meeting with a friend on campus, I locked my bike up, and then miraculously I lost my U-lock bike key. So, my bike is now stick to a rack on campus. I'm sure you are all thinking, well, Mercedes, you can pick U-locks with bic pens, no problem! Well, a friend of Vincent's, Sam, and I tried that for about 20 minutes with no luck whatsoever. He has tried relentlessly and to no avail with his own bike which is locked to a pole near his apartment complex. I'm thinking either Sam and I were just not skilled at this thievery or this proclamation is impossible. See for yourself on this video Can you pick a U-lock? If any of you learn how and can help me with my stranded bike, please let me know!

Reformatting the TEMPLATE!

As you might notice, on the right hand side of my website there now are pictures along with people's blog names. My inspiration, my idol of blogging and website design, Mr. Jeffrey Donenfeld has done something similar with his friend's blogs and pictures. I found it very inspiring so I am showering him with the highest form of flattery - replication. If anyone has any suggestions while I try to master the code, the look of the friend blog part of the site, or anything else for that matter, please let me know! This is a new, interesting venture for me!

Also, if you severely or even mildly dislike my choice of photo for you, my lovely reader, please feel free to provide another one, any size, shape, etc via email! Thanks!

"Oh, no, no, no, don't phunk with my heart!"*

Wynne and I a few months ago

The Black Eyed Peas said it best, and so did my friend Wynne at the precise moment so that the anger dug into my skin and grabbed at my heart. This song was playing in the background as Wynne and I talked voraciously about life, fear, moving, men, and women. After the talk I realized that recently my hard work towards simplifying my life has begun to set in, and I hope that I continue on this vein of simplicity as the summer melts into fall. I hope the anger I feel will fade and I will be able to fully concentrate on what I need to. I know what I want now, and I feel like perhaps I should change the introduction to this blog that talks about the "helpless yet controlled feeling" of life. Now, life just feels in my control. Cognizant and aware, I am moving around in the world, and surprisingly, my body, my mind, and my newfound obsession with simplicity are making me feel more ready than I thought I would be for change. I'm ready to move, I'm ready to try a new job(s), I'm ready to take those two (count 'em 1 ...(and 2) tests. I can lament about how long it took me to prepare mentally for them later, for now, I'm going to take advantage of this mind-set, buckle down, and concentrate.

My old mentor, and favorite Women's Studies professor, Anne Marie Pois, would be proud. Actually, I'm going out to dinner with my retired professor/friend soon, so that is exciting. I can tell her how life is and she can be proud indefinitely!!

So, as Wynne and the Black Eyed Peas would agree, phunking with (her's or) my heart, my mind, my body at this time of high motivation and simplicity would definitely be a bad idea. Disastrous, even.

Usar cuidado, por favor.

Current book I'm reading: Mainly "Love in the Time of Cholera"

*Black Eyed Peas song that was playing yesterday evening when Wynne and I were out dancing our booties off.

Quote of the day, today.

"What matters in life is not what happens to you but what you remember and how you remember it." ~Gabriel Garcia Marquez (with accents over the i and the a)


Today I almost fell off a mountain. I was hiking in left hand canyon around sunset right after I finished with work at the crazy home and I slipped while I was climbing up this rock. I did not get hurt, but this was a very harrowing experience for me, as I was alone and I didn't have my cell phone with me. I realized that though I am quite obsessed with hiking alone, I probably shouldn't do such dangerous hikes without a companion. The hike I chose was incredibly steep with even a few short scree slopes, so as you can see it was fairly risky. I think I'm getting somewhat risky in the mountains, thinking that I can attempt almost anything, and that is not a good attitude to have. Where is my humility? I'm glad I wasn't hurt. I calmed down when I got to the summit and was able to see the Indian Peaks and Sugarloaf peak. Additionally I went into the Boulder Creek afterward and took a short dip which cooled me off incredibly and made me feel fully relaxed. I think scrapes are hot, so I guess my legs are hot now.

Wish me luck on the next lone hike!

Happy Birth-day to...

Carrie! Happy Birthday to Carrrie! Happy Birthday my dear, Carrie, Happy Birthday to yooooooou!

The big 22! The palendrome! The special age!

Thank goodness for July 19th, 1983 because without it there wouldn't be Carrie!

Here's to a good year! To a girl who I have great times with...see?





New Year's with you! 2005!


Partying with you!


Halloween!


Ahh! Good concert memories!


1980! Wait, no 2005!!


Good times, girl.


And ending with the 50 yard line, baby!

Special, isn't it? Happy Birthday, Carrie!

The fate of that chocolate cake...

Shattered glass.

So, to get back to the warm, yummy, delicious chocolate cake that I was baking during the writing of my last post. It has a very sad end, that poor chocolate cake. After getting lost several times in the car with me, it sat pleasantly on the seat of my car next to me, wafting a delectable smell of warm chocolate. I finally found Waneka Lake, the obscurely located place of my summer work picnics. Excited, I jumped out of the car and grabbed the cake along with a towel under it to prevent burning my hands. Incidentally, the cake slipped gracefully off of the towel and shattered on the pavement of the Waneka Lake parking lot. Smashed to it's end, right before my eyes. I cried. This story is an allegory, or a symbolic expression of what my entire weekend was like. Often I was tempted by the sweet smell of an event to come, only to have it smash dramatically before my eyes. Like the cake, shattered glass. Humiliation. Shattered glass. Stress. Shattered glass. Frustration, and again, I see the picture of my cake that I painstakingly baked before the picnic smash before my eyes. Many humiliating things happened before my eyes this past weekend, and I have yet to get over them.

Current book I'm reading: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, among others.

Oh! Oh! And who likes the new look of the site? I needed a change because the formatting was getting strange. Let me know what you think.

Currently waiting for a cake to bake...

So this week has been interesting for my mind, to say the least. I've been feeling very inward lately. Like I'm coming into myself, but in a bad way because it is this quiet, creeping feeling that begins to take over sight, sound, and feeling. Like cataracts when the black begins to overcome the sides of the eyes and gradually moves in, creating this window of light amongst primarily black.
It makes me not want to hang out with my good, loving friends and it makes me want to be alone all the time. Being alone is addictive. I've done it a lot this week, too, due to the inward feeling. I climbed South Boulder Peak by myself the other day, and it was a fun, hot challenge. I ate a baked potato on top of the peak and enjoyed the view to it's fullest, by myself. Is that peculiar to like that so much? I do. I need to get past this and turn back to my social ways, maybe the slew of barb-b-que's, picnics, and parties that are going on this weekend all at once will crack me out of this shell. Or maybe it won't. I'll just pretend.


Wow, this is quite possibly the most honest post I've ever put up. Ok, all, love to you and I'm off to my work picnic, bringing a chocolate oatmeal cake that has JUST FINISHED COOKING in the oven!



Current book I'm reading: Marquez "Love In The Time of Cholera"

Taking Risks: "Lightning Never Strikes Twice in the Same Place"* (War of the Worlds Preview)

This post is intended to be vague and cryptic for both explainable and unexplainable reasons. I like it this way, though! Yes to crypticness! But I want to discuss something that has been on my mind lately. And that something is the concept of risk versus reward. Now, I have been told that I am an adventurous person, who is willing to risk her life for a thrill, however I don't know if that truly has ever been the case. This past weekend, though, I feel that I took a big risk and gained immeasurable reward from it. And in this cryptic post, I hope to encourage all to take random, questionable, scary, pre-mature risks, because life needs the unexpectedness. Life needs the randomness to add spice to it. Risks are like hot-sauce, if you don't try them out once and a while, you get burned by their poignancy.

Needless to say, I had a spicy weekend, and I can thank only risk for that spice. Delicious!


Current book I'm reading: "Love in the Time of Cholera" by Gabriel García Márquez (con dos accentos)

...your perfect verse is just a lie you tell yourself to help you get by?

"Clark Gable"

"I was waiting for a cross-town train in the London
underground when it struck me
That I've been waiting since birth to find a love
that would look and sound like a movie
So I changed my plans and rented a camera and a van
and then I called you
"I need you to pretend that we are in love again"
and you agreed to

I want so badly to believe that "there is truth,
that love is real"
And I want life in every word to the extent that
it's absurd

I greased the lens and framed the shot using a friend
as my stand-in
The script it called for rain but it was clear that day
so we faked it
The marker snapped and I yelled "quiet on the set" and
then called "action!"
And I kissed you in a style that Clark Gable would have
admired (I thought it classic)

I want so badly to believe that "there is truth,
that love is real"
And I want life in every word to the extent that it's absurd

I know you're wise beyond your years, but do you
ever get the fear
That your perfect verse is just a lie you tell yourself
to help you get by?
That your perfect verse is just a lie you tell yourself
to help you get by?

That your perfect verse is just a lie you tell yourself
to help you get by?

That your perfect verse is just a lie you tell yourself
to help you get by?"

I'm lost right now, I'll find myself later. Maybe the
Postal Service will show me where to send myself away...

Wrapup of Jellystone and Montana Trip!

Howdy, folks! I've only just returned from the ro-ad trip. It was very beautiful. More of nature, which is what I always want.

To summarize the trip (photos from Carrie to come soon) I think I will quote a bit that I wrote in email to a new friend of mine:

Oh, and my road trip...The most fun I've had with two women in ages! I went with my roommate and her very good friend Molly and we did everything from 8 mile hikes to geysers and waterfalls, to quick shopping sprees (I got a cowgirl hat and boots, yea, I know, I know, ye-haw I have some of that native-Colorado-cowgirl-culture in me...), to picking up cowboys in big red Ford F-150s. What more could you want in a road trip of the "true west" er, "wynot" and "the big sky country"?
Translate: Wyoming and Montana. Click here for more state slogans. The one for Colorado on here is completely trashy, bad, stereotypical, fake, and stupid. I guess they all are. Oh well.



Pics coming soon, I promise!

What I did most of the drive...because I was claustaphobic and always sitting in the pack because Molly gets carsick.
And the picture at the top of this post has nothing to do with the recent trip. It is of my brother and I in Colorado Springs. We're heading to get Mate at the Mate Factor, one of the best coffee/mate establishments I've been to in my life.


Current book I'm reading: War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells, it is getting good, the lightning is coming, for all you movie lovers!


The waterfall of my dreams. Fairy Falls. That is me in the left bottom corner.

Back...and busy

Back from Yellowstone and Montana. What a trip. And what a week ahead. My, my. I think it is going to be difficult.

Current book I'm reading: War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells
Final thought: Wow, blogging is trite, but FUN!!!!