Travel & Lifestyle Freelance Writer | Market Research Consultant
You know how people all cram to get onto an airplane, standing in that long line that stretches from the back to the front of the jet as grandma hobbles into her seat, the young buff guy crams his overpacked athletic bag into the overhead compartment and moms and dads struggle to quiet their infants once they’ve located their spots? I’m really curious what would happen if the person at the back of the line pushed the person in front of her over … Dominoes?
So yesterday I played journalist and wrote an article about the Sweetheart Balloon Rally that’s going on up in Loveland this weekend.
After talking with a bunch of different people, I decided that this was, hands down, my best quote. It’s from a girl who had just gotten off of her first balloon ride.
“It was so amazing! It literally felt like you were floating!”
Yup, I’d give her some genius points for that one.
So last weekend, I was chatting with a new friend, Mr. Eugene Buchanan. He’s a rad dude, a great writer, and he knows the paddling and ski industries backward and forward. (Check out his book, “Brothers on the Bashkaus: A Siberian Paddling Adventure” about a rugged rafting expedition.)
Anyway, we we discussing how so many people don’t read the news because it’s too, well, newsy. The writing is dry and boring, and far too frequently, the photos are crap. Hearing a similar viewpoint from a seasoned veteran–and listening to his confession that even when he does write front-page type stories, he still writes accessibly–gave me the confidence to put this post up on the Daily Camera’s environmental blog, Big Green Boulder … read the post, enter the contest, and then laugh at the photo’s caption.
Cheers to fun writing!
Just had one of those horribly awkward encounters where someone comes up to you and starts chatting like she’s one of your oldest friends, but you (or, in this case, I) have no idea who the heck it is.
I scraped by with a few nods and smiles and then managed to get away with both of our senses of dignity intact.
Augh. I’ve been ambushed. She’s sitting behind me with a high ponytail and curly red hair … a loudtalker. You know the kind … the woman who talks loud enough that the whole coffee shop hears about her son’s stomach rash; the man who blathers on for all to hear about his most recent business success. I don’t understand this lack of modesty. I feel bad for my cute, little eardrums. Perhaps I should be more concerned about the future hearing capabilities of those on the other end of the phone … but I’m not.
I love people. I love hearing what they’ve done and where they’ve been. I love seeing the hardship they wear on their face and getting insight into the aspects of life that they try to hide. I love when their eyes light up and a smile creases their cheeks.
On my recent hike up Green Mountain, I got a chance to talk with a man named Roger. He’s lived in Boulder for most of his life. He taught high school physics for decades and still tutors students in the craft. He’s worried about cell phones and social media and what they’re doing to human interaction. He pursues a green lifestyle.
Roger has also found toe-holds and hand-holds to take him up the east face of Longs Peak, known by climbers across the globe as The Diamond, more times than anyone else in the world. Having strapped on his climbing shoes at the base of the 900 foot vertical wall over 103 times, the East Face is like an old friend. Perhaps his most ambitious attempt would be the time he biked from Boulder to the Longs Peak trailhead (that’s a 40 mile ride with 4,400 feet of elevation gain*), then ran the trail to the base of the Diamond, then free-climbed (as in didn’t use ropes) to the top. Pretty amazing.
Moral of the story? Ask questions. People are interesting and crazy and crazy interesting.
*Check out MapMyRide.com for the beta on that trip.