Author: Jason

See you Boulder. As in goodbye and good riddance. The CU curse of being so close yet so far away has passed down from father to son. We got a glimpse of the high life but it wasn’t meant to be. I know it stings. I really hoped he would get his first choice.

trump took office for his second, non consecutive term. Only the second president to do so. Despite all the cringe worthy moments and overt disses of the prior administration, I was pretty much glued to the proceedings. What used to be the norm of gauging transitions by their first 100 days has become shock and awe in the first few hours. I swear it looked like Elon Musk gave multiple heil hitler salutes at the opening of his speech.
😞

Sophia says he looks just like me ☃️

I started a calendar to help track the days. So far so good. I put a smiley face for every successful day. Couple minor “tests” so far but feeling pretty motivated to go the distance.

happy 19th Julian!!

Jan 2nd. Back from Palm springs. And a really wonderful trip all in all. Few highlights included hiking around in Joshua Tree, playing pac-man, ping pong, pickleball, puzzles and whatever other P’s with the fam. Spending time with Phi. And maybe best of all, just cruising around in the convertible “stang” with the Reese’s pieces.

Steph’s bday and New Year’s Eve have also come on and gone. Was a weird one this year given an unexpected funeral for a close family member on Mitchell’s side. Mamoo came down early with Mary Ruth, picked up Steph, and made the trek down south to Locust Grove. They ended up bringing home a couple distant family members to spend the night so it was oddly surreal to end up feeding 5 old ladies dressed in black. I baked off a very nice chicken pot pie with green beans and honey glazed carrots.

skipping ahead…my bday is coming up on Saturday. I didn’t meet the weight loss goal that I had set earlier. Nor did I make any meaningful resolutions for 2025 thus far. The old adage, hope is not a strategy, comes to mind. So I’ve decided right here and now to make “dry January” a thing. Starting right after my bday (albeit a little late). We’ve got reservations at a new Italian place and I’m not ready quite just yet. But for real, it’ll be a nice way to close out the extravagance of the season and start to form some welcome new habits

hope is not a strategy. I got this!

we’re going to observe a “dry” household in Palm Springs. Sophia can vape if she wants but I know she’ll be discreet. with sobriety in action for her and Justin, plus the ratio of those who drink (mostly me) minus those that don’t, it actually makes positive sense. so, with that in mind, I’m starting to psych myself up. a bit of forced reprieve will do me well.

last “work” week before we cut out for the desert and enjoy an all expenses paid trip to Palm Springs! Thank you Dad and Irene!!

I say “work” in quotations because even though Dell is officially shut down for Xmas week, Steph and I have been going nuts on the home front. Landscape overhaul at Fowler. Full interior paint job at north coleman. Juggling tenants. Wrapping presents. Testing patience.

Cien Anos de solidad
I really love this old book. It won a Pulitzer Prize for good reason.

And then all of a sudden, 50 years after original publication, Netflix turned it into a limited series. Thank Dios they didn’t f$&k it up, like so many book to movie translations. whoever was in charge duly realized the importance of the effort. They spent tens of millions to build an entire city, infusing new life somewhere deep in the heart of Columbia. Their end result evoked a vision so surreal, so magical, Macondo literally leapt of the page. I’m no hardened movie critic, but I melted in the embrace of this newly rediscovered saga of the Buendia family. Thank Dios we have 8 more episodes to come.

I checked my shelves and saw i must have displaced or given away my old paperback. So I bought it again on Amazon. I can’t wait to reread what I’m now reimagining on screen. I don’t know. Maybe it’s the way Marquez captures the beauty of discovery. Like witnessing ice for the first time. Or capturing the first photo. And of course the pangs of love. His characters are spiteful. They wage war. They eat dirt. there’s a yearning to see Gods existence in life and a madness when they start to succumb to the reality of death. powerful and poetic stuff.