Zack and I hung out in Denver with my family for Christmas, which was fun -- we played Trivial Pursuit and had dinner at The Fort, where all the waiters wear Western clothes and serve you big slabs of meat. The best part of the day, though, was this:
"Luke... I am your father." Yes, my brother and I are Star Wars geeks. We're of that generation, you know.
And after we finally got over all the cool buzzy/whooshy noises it makes, we had to mess around:
Sweet!! (Zack's a good sport.)
I hate New Year's Eve, mostly because I don't drink, and I have fairly low tolerance for drunk people. So I just spent a couple of hours at a mellow party, and went home long before midnight. I had to work New Year's Day, anyway, shooting the stupid Polar Bear Plunge, where a bunch of people jump into the frigid water of the Boulder Reservoir. I guess they think they're staring the new year by doing something "really daring!" Wow!! I sure hope the rest of your year is a hell of a lot more exciting than this, folks. You'll have to forgive my sarcasm... this is one of those events I can't stand to see anymore after 10 years at the Daily Camera.
Four students from Longmont High School, from left, Alex Zuelke, Dan Moulton, Joe Diefenbach, and Mike Best, leap into the Boulder Reservoir on Sunday as part of the Polar Bear Plunge, a benefit for the Longmont Humane Society.
Thankfully, the next assignment was cooler -- the Japanese New Year.
Hiroki Miyake, left, uses a big wooden mallet to pound sticky rice into a smooth paste as part of the Mochitsuki ceremony Sunday at the Japanese New Year celebration on the Pearl Street Mall. The rice ceremony is a tradition in Japan, where its stretchy consistency symbolizes long life and brings good luck to those who eat it. At right is Tak Nagatani.
Yumi Sueyoshi, right, and her husband, Taka, left, play Taiko drums as part of the Japanese New Year celebration Sunday on the Pearl Street Mall.
This was much more fun to watch, and since I wasn't hung over, I thought the drums sounded pretty damn cool.
Anyhow, 2006 is upon us, and since I'm notorious for just living in the moment, I figured I had better make some goals for the year:
1. Have a fantastic year of mtn bike riding and racing. Stay uninjured!!
2. Get out of debt and put more money in savings.
3. Buy a condo or find housing I want to stay in more than one year at a time.
4. Make some real progress toward solving my career dilemma.
5. Work on making more meaningful friendships.
I know, you're aren't supposed to have more than about three goals at a time, but I've got a whole year to work on these things, right? ;-)
Here are some things I learned last year:
1. Nothing matters more than your health. Coming back after a horrible back injury to place 4th in the local mtb race series felt really, really good.
2. Getting abruptly dumped by the love of your life really hurts. But as long as you can ride, it's truly okay.
3. Grab life by the handlebars, and be sure that you're the one steering it.
4. Ride somewhere new as often as possible.
5. Let your legs do the talking, not your mouth.
6. Trust that you can ride obstacles that scare you.
7. A life without regular riding partners is a bummer.
In '06 I'm sure I'll learn a bunch of things I'm not even aware of yet, but I'm hoping to:
1. Clean a local tough trail all in one go
2. Travel to awesome riding destinations
3. Win a race in my category and upgrade
4. Create that group of rock-solid riding peeps that I've been looking for
5. Regain my faith in the world of relationships -- cheeseball, but true!
I hope the new year is a banner one of all of you as well!
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