If you are what you eat, then I would definitely be turning into a pizza after the last few days. Friday night, Kim and I decided to check out a place we had often seen but never tried, Pasquini’s South Broadway location. Upon being immediately seated at the only open table in the restaurant, we were given some fresh bread sticks that hit the spot right away. We both ordered a calzone, and when they arrived were shocked at how large they were. Neither of us could finish more than half of it. And for under $10, they are a serious deal for two meals worth of food. I just ate my leftovers for lunch today.

Then on Sunday, on our trip back home from the mountains, we stopped in Idaho Springs to grab some pizza from Beau Jo’s. We had eaten at anther location in the past, but never at this famed original location. Not that we hadn’t tried before, it’s just that the restaurant gets packed full of people coming back after a day on the slopes. Fortunately, this time we got in after only a 15 minute wait. At Beau Jo’s they server pizza by the pound, which actually makes sense if you think about it, instead of saying how many slices there are. Knowing full well we wouldn’t eat it all, we both ordered one pound pizzas. Kim went with the Pacific Plantation and I chose the Old Settler. Both were excellent and they too provided another meal for each of us.

Finally, today I placed an order at Domino’s to pickup a free medium one topping pizza later today. I posted a link earlier on my twitter page, but it appears that the deal is dead and some orders are even being canceled. I haven’t been notified of cancellation yet, so I’m keeping my fingers crossed for more pizza tonight!

We spent the majority of the weekend up in the mountains. We started off with an early morning drive to Vail on Saturday, where we did some snowboarding. I was hoping to find lots of fluffy powder, but I think the melting and freezing cycles got the best of the week’s snow. We found the snow to be heavy and mostly packed, even all the way out in Blue Sky Basin. I did okay, but probably should have stayed on the groomed runs since I hadn’t been out in weeks. I ended up tweaking my bad ankle just enough to convince me to stop for the day, so we headed back to the car and drove over to our hotel in Keystone.

With the misadventures of our day, we decided to find other entertainment for Sunday. We decided on a snowmobiling tour with Goodtimes Adventures, out near Breckenridge. Having never tried snowmobiling before, we went with their “classic” tour which included guides to show us the ropes and lead us all the way up to Georgia Pass at 11,585 ft. Our group included about ten other snowmobiles and two guides. After a quick instructional demo, we were given the keys and led out to the practice track.

I started off driving, with Kim as the passenger, and got the hang of it pretty quickly. Before leaving the practice area, we switched so Kim could give driving a try. After that, we switched again and followed in a single line with one guide in front and one at the rear all the way up to Georgia Pass. Once at the top of the continental divide, the area was wide open and we were allowed to play around on the snowmobiles, even hitting a couple of small bumps. After a quick break there, we switched again so Kim could drive on the trails and once again followed one of the guides to another meadow for more riding.

At one point, we flew up a steep incline and then had to make a quick right turn. When doing this, our snowmobile nearly flipped onto it’s side, and we were very close to falling completely off. I guess we weren’t leaning hard enough to the inside. Afterward, Kim was a little more cautious driving through the trails. Before the two hour tour was over we encountered yet another open area with a large track. Kim took a few laps driving and then we switched it up again so I could get a few more turns in before it was all over. On the straightaways I was able to get it up to 50 mph or so. It was really thrilling to be flying on top of the snow at such speeds. I loved every minute of it and hope to do it again soon, though it will likely have to wait until next year.

We forgot to bring a camera along for our mini vacation, but we were able to purchase a photo of us with a snowmobile before taking off on our adventure.

After 24 hours of snow it has finally stopped. At times Denver was under a blizzard warning, and it really was some intense snowfall. After being penned up inside for so long, I decided to go out and do some shoveling. I also decided to snap a few pictures along the way. According to the Paff meteorological center, we received 13 inches of snow. And to be honest, we really needed it. Haven’t had much precipitation at all in Denver, and the conditions in the mountains were not very good. I’m hoping we can get up onto the slopes for some snowboarding this weekend.

The initial lineup for this year’s Mile High Music Festival has been announced! As I expected, I don’t feel it’s as strong of a lineup as last year. I’ve seen Widespread Panic before and I don’t really care to see them again, let alone two nights in a row. But as far as the mid-level talent goes, I’m in love. They’ve got Ben Harper, John Butler, Robert Randolph, Guster, Paolo Nutini, Gomez, and many others that I wouldn’t mind seeing. So I will definitely be in attendance, I was just hoping for a little more.

Saturday, July 18th

• Widespread Panic
• Tool
• Incubus
• Ben Harper
• G. Love & Special Sauce
• Ani DiFranco
• The Black Keys
• Paolo Nutini
• Gomez
• Greyboy Allstars
• Railroad Earth
• India.Arie
• Lyrics Born
• Rocco DeLuca & The Burden
• Erin McCarley
• The Band Of Heathens
• Davy Knowles & Back Door Slam
• Set Forth

Sunday, July 19th

• Widespread Panic
• The Fray
• Gov’t Mule
• 3OH!3
• Buddy Guy
• John Butler
• Gogol Bordello
• Galactic
• Guster
• The Wailers
• Matisyahu
• Robert Randolph & The Family Band
• Mat Kearney
• Dead Confederate
• Jerry Joseph & The Jackmormons
• Paper Bird
• honeyhoney
• Joe Pug
• Electric Touch

There will be more artists announced as the event draws closer. As and added bonus, I’m glad to see that they’ve added some additional transportation options, though I’m hoping someone puts together a party bus again.

For my birthday dinner, I chose to finally try Marco’s Coal-Fired Pizzeria. After reading numerous reviews for this restaurant, I knew I had to try it for myself. So we made a reservation last night, and were pleased to be sat very near to the two large ovens so we could watch all that was happening in the kitchen. Taking a suggestion from our server, we tried the coal fired chicken wings, even though neither of us particularly care to eat chicken from the bone. These are definitely like no other wings I’ve had before, and I was quite surprised by the great taste of the lemon and rosemary marinade. We also split a house salad, which was nothing special, and the Abruzzo pizza. The pizza was another suggestion from the server, and I thoroughly enjoyed it! The combination of four cheeses, light basil, and olive oil was superb. We will definitely be back, and I’d like to try one of the New York pies next time.

I am another year older and one step closer to 30. At this time next year I will hit that mile marker of life. At least Kim’s is before mine. We just took a quick lunch break to go check out office chairs for my desk at home. Kim bought me one years ago that I am still using and have nearly worn completely out. Yes, it is still standing upright, but all of the padding is smashed down and the leather is starting to really wear. So to keep the tradition alive, I’m getting another chair for my birthday today. I enjoy the mesh back feel of my chair in the company office, and once I sat in this chair at Office Depot I was nearly sold. However, I’m not completely sold on the price. If there are any other more affordable options that may offer the same features, please let me know, otherwise I will likely end up owning this one.

Another weekend gone by and still no snowboarding. We haven’t been out since Valentine’s weekend when Kim’s brothers were visiting. This is partly due to my ankle injury but also due to the very crappy conditions in the mountains. Everyone that has been up on the slopes in the last few weeks has said nothing but bad things about the snow. Fortunately, it looks like some new snow fell overnight and there should be more following throughout the week. Hopefully we can get out this coming weekend.

So, instead of boarding, we resorted to other activities in Denver. Saturday night, we went bowling south on Broadway at Moe’s. Our friend Ken came along for the fun. Kim convinced us to all bowl left handed for our entire third game. Somehow I think she has done this before, as she kicked our butts! I believe I finished that game with a score of 52. Pathetic.

Sunday, the weather was very nice, and so we decided to play a quick game of golf. Again Ken joined us for a round of nine holes at Harvard Gulch. This is the really short course not too far from our house, which we played toward the end of last year. My game started off pretty well with a par on the first, but went all over from there. I got a six on the second hole, then back to par on third, and then a pair of sixes to follow that. Despite how short the course is, it can be really frustrating for me. I guess it goes to show how terrible my short game really is.

I finally got my hands on Artie Lange‘s book Too Fat to Fish. I put myself on the library waiting list months ago, but since there is only one copy in the entire Denver library system it took some time. From the book’s website, “Too Fat to Fish is a collection of outrageous, raw, and painfully funny true stories straight from the life of the actor, comedian, and much-loved cast member of The Howard Stern Show, Artie Lange.” I got it on Tuesday and am nearly halfway through it, currently on page 123 of about 300. I’m sure this is the fastest I’ve ever read through a book, especially since I don’t read too much. But Kim’s been out of town and I’ve been riding the train a bunch, giving me extra time to cruise through it. Though it probably helps if you already know about Artie, but I’d consider this a great book to read.

March Madness has arrived. I think I am in a record number of pools this year, but unfortunately none of them are for any money. The only money I have on the tournament is in my dad’s squares game. This is the one where your square is randomly assigned two digits 0-9. One of them is the last digit of the winner’s score, while the other is the last digit of the loser’s score. There are 100 of these spots, and the money collected is distributed as the tournament progresses.

Back to my brackets. I think I picked them all the same, or at least I tried to. So far, after three games are over, I have two wins and a loss. I picked Butler over LSU, but they couldn’t quite pull it off. I can’t complain with this start though, especially since Memphis pulled out the win. You can see why by visiting my picks. I don’t know if I’ll start off as good as last year, but I’m doing better than the President.

With some nice weather over the weekend, Kim convinced me to go out for a run with her. Despite not running for at least a month, it started off pretty easy. We made it all the way up to Wash Park and then decided to do a loop around the dirt trail there. One time around on the loop is just under 2.6 miles. And with the nearly one and a half mile trip to the park and back, our route was just about four miles in length. The good news is that I almost made it all the way, but started getting some leg pains toward the end. The bad news is that my legs are still hurting some after a few days of rest. I think I need to get some new shoes. I was hoping to just find a new pair exactly the same as my current pair on eBay or anywhere online, but it appears that Montrail has canceled the Masai brand. So I may have to go back into a store and spend the big bucks on a new pair.