Two Hundred Eighty-Six

May 28, 2015
7.13 Miles in 1:11:43
Mood: Achy
Soundtrack: Grouplove "Never Trust a Happy Song" / Twenty One Pilots "Blurryface"

I had almost finished my third mile on the Highline Canal, when the trail came to a road. I stopped there to catch my breath, and a car pulled to a stop, looking like it was waiting for me to cross. I was not planning to move for a little bit, so I waved the car along. The driver, an old man who I would guess to be in his 70's or 80's, crept forward a few feet, but didn't move along. He motioned me over, so I paused my music and walked over to him.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine." I said, slightly confused.

"It's just that you're holding your side. I was concerned."

"I just ran three miles...I'm just catching my breath."

"I walk two miles every morning...I don't run, though."

"Um...Okay!"

Then he pulled away.

I appreciate that he was showing concern, had I been under any actual duress, I'd have been very thankful to have some help. I also appreciated that he walks two miles every morning. Even if that bit of information seemed a wee bit extraneous to our conversation, and I didn't really know how to respond.

The truth is that the old man was a little bit perceptive. I wasn't completely okay. My side is killing me. My mysterious rib injury feels like it's getting worse instead of better. It's not debilitating by any means, but it's highly irritating. It hurts at random times, such as when I turn a steering wheel or sit back in my chair. I find myself on edge, because it seems to always hurt just a little bit, and I'm never entirely sure what small movement may cause an unfortunately spike in the pain level. It's exhausting, and I'm trying not to constantly complain about it, although I do whine more than I should. Still, it's a constant annoyance, and I'd really like to start working in a positive direction with that whole healing thing. Perhaps most annoying is that it's really hurting my pace. I was super slow today, and it was mainly due to the effects of the rib irritation. It makes it slightly harder to breathe, and if I go too fast, it starts to throb.

I did try to push myself one time, when a girl passed me on the trail on the way home. I had been dragging, and she was moving at a solid clip, so I thought I'd try to pace myself with her. It's always easier to run faster when other people are around, I can't figure that out, but it's true. I was able to keep up for a bit, and my lungs and legs felt fine, but after about half a mile of increased speed I was forced to stop and collect myself. My rib was burning in pain, and I was legitimately angry at my injury. That is a weird emotional reaction, but every time something in my body betrays my ability to run, I get mad at that body part. This was especially true when it was a hamstring, and I couldn't run at all. Now, I can run...so long as I push through pain. Still angry, but not AS angry.

Today's photo comes from the treasure trove of Cherryvale Road. Home to perhaps the greatest collection of weird lawn ornamentation in all of Greenwood Village. I have previously posted a lawn ostrich on post 275 from this street, and there are still a decent number of treasures to chronicle on future dates. Today, I decided to post the Samurai Warrior, as I'm sure that he wouldn't gripe about an achy rib...a bit of toughness inspiration for me to try to live up to. (I imagine I'll fail.)

I reached my 100 mile goal for May (I'm now up to 17 consecutive months), and I'm pondering resting on Friday rather than doing my usual Monday run. We'll see how I feel come the morning, I guess.

Two Hundred Eighty-Five

May 26, 2015
8.18 Miles in 1:20:28
Mood: Stiff, but good. Determined to get some giraffes.
Soundtrack: Twenty One Pilots "Blurryface"

I tend to have more energy and stamina when I have a goal in mind. My goal was provided to me via a run a little over a week ago on which I saw these giraffes just hanging out, being giraffes in this backyard. I immediately knew I needed to get these things for the backyard, because...they are enormous giraffe statues in someone's backyard. This is EXACTLY the kind of thing that this blog exists to chronicle.

That first day, however, there was a party going down in that backyard, and it was a little later in the afternoon, so the lighting wasn't great. I took a few pictures that day, but they came out poorly, so I knew that I'd need to get back here. The problem was, that this spot is a pretty good distance away from my house. I had actually driven to my start point the day I spotted them, but I knew they were within striking distance on a day that I felt good.

As I started out this particular morning, I felt a little stiff (Ever since I fell on May 22nd, I have a rib on my right side that has been killing me, I think I may have cracked or bruised it, and it's painful.), but I also felt pretty strong. The first few miles came at a solid clip, and I was feeling strong, plus I was headed in generally the right direction to get the giraffes, so I decided to push myself a little further than I originally intended on going that morning. I arrived and took a bunch of pictures of the giraffes from all sorts of different angles. They are a little hard to shoot from the street, as the backyard is a bit elevated from the street. The greatest thing would be to get to view them FROM the backyard, but I wasn't feeling so bold as to knock on the door and ask to take pictures of their giraffes. I decided to use a picture from a slight ways away so that the reader could view the giraffes in context, which is always the best way to view a giraffe.

As I ran, I listened through the Twenty One Pilots album "Blurryface" a few times, which is quickly becoming one of my favorite albums of the year. Very solid stuff, and it has a nice bounce that is fun to run along with. Despite being a little slower than I wish (which I blame on my hurt rib), I really couldn't ask for too much more from a run. It was the first super enjoyable run I'd had in awhile. Knowing I had to push myself to get to the giraffes also helped a lot.

Two Hundred Eighty-Four

May 24, 2015
7.16 Miles in 1:12:01
Mood: Pretty good, as for once the sun was out
Soundtrack: Can't remember, I literally have no recollection. All I remember for sure is that I was listening to SOMETHING using some janky backup earbuds from my car, because I forgot my normal running buds at home.

Set out on this one from Cheesman Park with the intention of running through downtown in the hopes of seeing weirdos dressed up for Denver ComicCon.  I was not disappointed. I saw a ton of cosplay goofballs...some of my favorite goofballs, by the way. I saw an adorable father and son Batman team, a guy who looked so much like Captain Jack Sparrow that I briefly wondered if it was Johnny Depp, and so many brightly colored costumes of characters that I'm not nerdy enough to be able to identify. My favorite moment came as I was running down the 16th Street Mall and I saw two girls, one dressed as a wizard and one dressed as Luigi from Super Mario Bros, and they were deep in what looked like a really meaningful and deep conversation, only they looked ridiculous having it. It was just so sublimely silly that it made me really happy.

In addition to the ComicCon gold, I also discovered that Little Man Ice Cream is a very short distance from the 16th Street Mall, which will surely come in handy some day, and I also encountered this amazing Peyton Manning wall mural, which I instantly knew was going to make the blog the moment I saw it, because Peyton Manning. He may never lead my team to the promised land (or maybe he will, stranger things have happened), but I sure like the guy. It's a pretty cool (and big) mural, too!

Two Hundred Eighty-Three

May 22, 2015
4.39 Miles in 48:04
Mood: Literally incapable of successfully putting one foot in front of another
Soundtrack: 99% Invisible / The Film Vault

"I am sitting in the street, and that's not great."

This is a thought that happened in my brain this morning during the course of a run that was pretty far from okay in the negative direction. After not running for five days thanks to a combination of influenza and dentist appointments, I was finally clear to get in a good run, and with plenty of rest, I was anticipating a pretty solid outing. Life, however, had different plans.

I briefly considered not going running, as there was a light but steady rain falling, but after a five day break, I really wanted to go, and was willing to get wet as a side-effect. It began innocently enough, the first mile and a half was quiet and steady, and seemed to be heading in the direction of a typical solid run. Then it hit me, the realization that I was quickly experiencing a low blood sugar event. I stopped running, ate the emergency glucose gel packet I always carry with me, shut off my podcast to assist in my concentration, and began moving as quickly as possible in the direction of the nearest convenience store...which thankfully wasn't all that far away.

The glucose package is designed to act quickly, but it was neither fast nor strong enough to take care of the problem. As I walked, things were quickly getting worse. I got a little dizzy, but then...things started getting weird, and not in a good way. Suddenly it was as if the connection between my brain and feet had been severed, and every step was an adventure. My legs were acting independently of the rest of my body and walking became exceptionally difficult. My lower limbs were twitching with each pace, and it was completely involuntary and exceptionally unnerving. I'm certain that to a passerby, it looked like I was a crazy drunk pedestrian just cruising down the road at 6:30 AM....an unusual time to see a drunk pedestrian, to be certain.

The harder I attempted to concentrate, the worse the spasms became. At one point I was so off balance that I literally hugged a tree to try and center myself. That didn't work, and things kept getting progressively harder to control and legitimately frightening. I was in a tough place, because the thing I needed to do was arrive somewhere that had something with sugar in it that I could purchase, but in order to get there, I had to walk, and walking was the thing that made me frightened. The solution to and cause of my problem were the same thing: walking.

I kept moving, and eventually was within eye shot of the Corner Store. I thought my problems were nearly over, when a particularly violent spasm caused me to completely lose control and fall down in the street. This is the point where my thoughts turned to...

"I am sitting in the street, and that's not great."

Thankfully it was a non-busy street, and I was able to gather myself and push myself towards the store. A friendly concerned citizen with a massive beard walked up to me and asked me if I was alright...I must have appeared to be either intoxicated by alcohol or some illicit drug, or just have appeared to be the world's clumsiest man. I assured him that I was okay, and just needed to get inside and get a little sugar in me, and all would be fine.

I walked in, grabbed an Arizona Ice Tea, paid, and headed back out. Quickly slamming an ice cold tea on a chilly, rainy day is a weird experience that I wouldn't recommend, but thankfully, it (combined with the glucose packet finally kicking in) did the trick. After about 10 minutes, I felt like a normal human being again. A normal human being with a huge gash on my palm and a sore knee and elbow from awkwardly hitting the ground after being physically incapable of walking across a street, mind you. But still...mostly normal.

The rest of this run was a mess. I somehow irritated a rib muscle in my fall, so my breathing was more labored than normal, my knee was sore, so running was difficult, and I was just in a bad head space. Plus, as has been the custom throughout the month of May in Colorado, it was raining profusely. So I did a bit more slow running, a larger amount of walking, and for the most part whether walking or trying to run...being a slow wet miserable mess. I managed to run a little over four miles at a glacial pace, but the largest emotion that I felt was relief when I finally made it home again.

Today's picture was taken AFTER my fall, and in keeping with the morose tone of this run, it features the exceptionally gray sky. It also features a Crabapple Route sign. These signs can be found all around Littleton, and although many have arrows pointing in one direction or another, do no seem to be coordinated in any discernible way to be an actual "route". If you begin following one and head in the direction the arrow points, more likely than not, you will be led in a direction that is completely devoid of any other signs. The arrows point in nonsensical directions, and I can't make heads or tails of any type of coherent system in place to actually guide someone to Crabapple trees. These signs also remind me that the glorious time of pink trees has passed, which is yet another reason I was sad this morning...as I do miss pink trees.

Sorry to be such a bummer today. The sun will come out tomorrow. Not literally if you're in Colorado, mind you, as the sun is quickly becoming a thing of myth and legend, but figuratively, it should be a happier gray rainy day tomorrow, at the very least.

I'll try again on Sunday, hopefully with less clumsy results.

Two Hundred Eighty-Two

May 17, 2015

6.48 Miles in 58:39

Mood: Literally running myself ragged.

Soundtrack: Mumford and Sons "Wilder Mind"

After spending a good portion of the weekend hauling up huge pieces of a loft bed into my daughter's upstairs room and then putting the bed together with my wife, I was a bit spent. However, I wanted to get a good run in, so I drove over to the Littleton Museum and began my run from there. The skies were looking ominous, but I went anyway.

I started out at a very fast pace, and kept that up for about the first four miles of this run, but then I crashed. I think I may have gotten a bit of a low blood sugar, It started raining, and all the physical exertion from the weekend all compounded to make the final two and a half miles quite difficult.

By the time I arrived home, I felt super exhausted. Later that night, I would get exceptionally sick and have to miss the next day and a half at work...which might have also contributed to why I felt so run down on the final few miles. Still, I found some places that I had never been before, and found this awesome caterpillar statue by this small lake, so it was not a run without any merit, and those first several miles were pretty awesome.

In retrospect, I wonder if I would have gotten so sick if I had just taken it easy on Sunday afternoon, or perhaps the virus was going to get me either way.

Two Hundred Eighty-One

May 15, 2015
7.83 Miles in 1:14:17
Mood: Relieved I no longer need to take pictures of the naked statue.
Soundtrack: The Film Vault / "Endorphin Rush" Spotify Playlist

A few weeks ago, I mentioned that there was a statue that needed to make the blog, but because my buddy Chip had sent me on a mission to discover an art installation he found, I had to post that rather than the statue. This is that statue. Yes, it's a nude woman. However, I find this to be one of the most tasteful statues I've ever seen on a front lawn in the suburbs. There is something beautiful about it. It's not provocative or exploitative, it's just pretty. I like it very much, and I'm glad it's finally made the blog, as I've passed by this home about four or five times since I first discovered it, and every time I've passed it, I've taken a picture thinking it might make the blog....then something else trumps it.

It's gotten to the point that I'm worried the people who live there might be thinking, "That creepy guy is taking a picture of the naked statue again." They might have the cops on speed dial trying to catch me.

Now I don't have to take pictures of it anymore, which I think is probably for the best. But seriously, it really is nice.

Two Hundred Eighty

May 14, 2015
7.47 Miles in 1:12:56
Mood: Contemplating fog
Soundtrack: Judge John Hodgman / Waterdeep "Moment" / Mumford & Sons "Wilder Mind"

I love the early morning when something that isn't quite a cloud and not quite fog is sitting in the park. I don't believe in ghosts, but if I did, this is what I'd expect them to feel like. Wispy strands of vapor on the verge of not even being there. This visual made for an excellent start to an otherwise subpar run. I pushed through to the end, and I actually gained a little bit of speed towards the end, but it was definitely a slog. It happens. Hopefully I have a bit more jump on Friday.

Two Hundred Seventy-Nine

May 12, 2015
7.40 Miles in 1:12:19
Mood: Thankful for a sunrise, and craving Johnny Cash tunes.
Soundtrack: Deadcast / Johnny Cash "The Essential Johnny Cash"

For a very brief period at the very beginning of my run, the sky was stunning. The sunrise caused the cloudy sky to explode in a kaleidoscope of  yellows, oranges, pinks, purples and blues. Less than two tenths of a mile into my run, I stopped at the top of a small hill overlooking my community pool, and I knew I had to stop and get a picture, and I also knew that this picture was going to be very difficult for anything else on the rest of my run to beat. Sometimes you just know you've captured something you're not going to top.

I was right. The rest of the run, while enjoyable enough, didn't really have much going for it visually. I enjoyed the discussion on the Deadcast centered on the Bill Simmons being fired from ESPN saga, and then for some reason I found myself really wanting to listen to Johnny Cash music. Turns out that Johnny Cash is pretty solid running music. For some reason my legs were a little dead, and I had to push myself to keep going a few times, but by the time I finished, I felt pretty good about the whole thing...and thankfully there was that sunrise, which really made the whole thing worthwhile.

Two Hundred Seventy-Eight

May 10, 2015
7.79 Miles in 1:13:39
Mood: Who puts a gator planter in their yard?
Soundtrack: 99% Invisible / The Film Vault / Death Cab for Cutie "Kintsugi"

Usually on a Sunday, I will run in the morning. However, this particular Sunday was Mother's Day, and my kids were determined to make Mom breakfast in bed. This meant that I was NOT going to be leaving that morning, as the idea of the kids making food without adult supervision is a remarkably bad idea. It also helped that nearly a foot of spring snow had fallen overnight, and the world looked like a winter wonderland outside. Hardly conducive to a morning run. So I resigned myself to not running this Sunday.

Breakfast was served, and a nice relaxing day was unfolding, although I was okay with not running...I still had the urge. Then, as I kept tabs on the outdoors, a funny thing happened. The world warmed up, the snow magically disappeared, and suddenly what seemed unlikely was now quite possible. I didn't get a start until about 4:00 in the afternoon, but I was headed out for a run.

I wasn't going to go all the way to Wash Park or some other more distant locale, but as is my custom on a Sunday...I wanted to hit up a new area that I haven't really explored previously, so I decided to drive over to the Littleton Museum, park there, and then run due north and see what I could see.

What I found was a wide variety of neighborhoods. The first few miles were largely industrial, and on a Mother's Day Sunday this meant that they were largely abandoned. It is very quiet in an industrial area on a Sunday, almost eerily still. Then I found a few neighborhoods that seemed decidedly lower class, but in the best possible way. This is where I took the glorious photo that had to accompany this post...It was a bright smurf blue house with a glut of decorative clutter littering the yard. There was a lot of crazy to digest in that yard, but by far the best part of it was this alligator planter. This was like a gift direct to me from the god of obnoxious lawn ornamentry. The instant I saw it I laughed a hearty laugh and immediately knew what was going to be on the top of the blog post for this run. This is exactly the type of thing that Run and Shoot was made for!

The rest of the run was pretty glorious, and felt very unusual, as I hadn't run in the late afternoon in quite some time. I felt strong, and my speed was faster than normal, as is often the case when I'm running in new areas. I seem to gain strength and speed when I'm running through unfamiliar places. I found some terrific and beautiful neighborhoods with some very interesting and visually stunning yards, but nothing was going to top the alligator.

The only other thing of note from this run were the huge number of damaged trees. Such a large storm with very heavy snow caused some serious damage to trees which had already gotten their leaves. They weren't able to stand up under the weight, and everywhere I ran I encountered downed trees and branches. It was kind of sad, especially since for the most part the snow had already melted, but it's effects were very noticeable. It looked like a tornado had ravaged the trees of the area.

Two Hundred Seventy-Seven

May 8, 2015
6.58 Miles in 1:03:56
Mood: Grumpy and losing it. Desperately seeking sunshine, and then getting myself involved in the weirdest of showdowns.
Soundtrack: The Film Vault

I am nearing the end of my ability to deal with rainy days. For the past two weeks, nearly every day has been some combination of overcast, rainy, and miserable. The clouds parted for half an hour yesterday, and I was confused by what the large bright warm thing in the sky could possibly be. I am a Coloradan. We get over 300 sunny days per year. The sun is our birthright. We don't deal well with extended cloudiness. I am not dealing well. This must stop.

I awoke this morning to find the skies an unwelcome shade of dark gray. "At least it isn't raining." I thought as I ate my breakfast. Then I went outside to begin my Friday run...and something subversive was happening. Although I did not see or feel any rain drops, droplets of water started forming on my glasses. It was very confusing, because I was certain that it wasn't raining, and yet it was raining. I'm seriously beginning to lose it...I'm getting attacked by ninja rain that simultaneously exists and doesn't exist. Up is down, down is up, cats and dogs living together...and falling routinely in Denver. Denver is Seattle. I am not a fan.

As I ran through the rainstorm that both was and wasn't I found myself in a progressively worse mood. I was seriously grumpy this morning. I tried to fight off the negative emotions, but I was irritated by getting wet. My socks were soggy, my feet were cold, and then as I stopped on the side of the road to rest and check something on my phone...the moment that both peaked my annoyance and also made me laugh.

I was stopped on a street corner near a crosswalk, but I was giving no indication of imminent crossing. My back was turned to the crosswalk and I was checking the camera app on my phone when I felt the stare. I turned to find a car paused in the street and the driver staring at me in irritation. He must have stared at me for ten seconds, no exaggeration. Then he did the dismissive and annoyed hand wave trying to usher me across the street. I was eventually going to cross in the direction he indicated, but I wanted to do so on my own timing, and was not going to be bullied across the street before I was ready by a passive-aggressive weirdo in a car who was ignoring my very purposeful body language designed to make all cars realize that they did not need to stop for me. After his little hand wave, no force on earth was going to get me moving before him. He looked at me for another two seconds or so, at which point irritated me made a very similar and very over dramatic hand motion to him letting him know that he should probably get on his way.

Thankfully, this pedantic gentleman finally took a hint and hit the accelerator. I laughed at the sublime ridiculousness of it all, finished up with my phone, and crossed the street about 20 seconds later. Seriously, who is that insistent on a pedestrian maintaining the right of way...whether said pedestrian wants it or not?? It was weird. Which brings us to our picture for today...Amazingly, I took a photo of this intersection about ten seconds before this all went down. Sadly, I didn't get a photo of my weird friend, but the intersection and crosswalk pictured above is exactly where all this silly action went down. I only took the photo because of the cool car driving by, but I also inadvertently captured the scene of a very strange showdown that was just about to take place. The only reason I had stopped was to see if I had gotten a decent picture of this cool old car, and my delay in checking this picture is what caused the bizarre stare down.

The interaction initially made me more annoyed at the soggy morning, but the more I thought about it, the funnier it seemed until ironically it became the best thing that happened on this rather forgettable and sloppy morning run. Funny how life works out that way sometimes.

Two Hundred Seventy-Six

May 7, 2015
7.21 Miles in 1:09:20
Mood: Trespassy, with a hint of foreboding doom.
Soundtrack: Deadcast / Seth Avett & Jessica Lea Mayfield "Seth Avett & Jessica Lea Mayfield Sing Elliott Smith"

I think I may have trespassed to get this photo. By that, I mean that I stepped over a tiny wooden fence and took three or four steps into this grass backyard to get the picture. This was almost certainly a bad idea, but my early morning warped logic was that anyone with enough whimsy to hang a cool tin man in their tree would be fine with someone else whimsical hopping through quickly to take a picture. I had to go back there, because I was unable to get a good picture from the sidewalk because it was just too far away, and I really needed a picture of this bad boy.

Thankfully, It all worked out okay, and as soon as I hopped back over the fence, I realized what a poor decision this was. I knew that I had to use this picture for today's run, as I am never again going to go back into that yard to get a picture.

This morning had the feel of something epic on the edge of happening. The dark and foreboding gray skies gave the feel as if something major might go down this morning that would change the course of human events. I don't think anything that large ended up going down today, but I could feel the potential with every step I took. It was a weird feeling.

Two Hundred Seventy-Five

May 5, 2015
7.58 Miles in 1:14:25
Mood: Ecstatic to have found an ostrich
Soundtrack: Mumford and Sons "Wilder Mind"

This morning I discovered a new (to me) street filled with very large homes. It's not terribly convenient for getting somewhere, as it only connects with one street, and when you reach the end you have to turn around and retrace your steps to get back to the street where you started. However, what it lacks in convenience, it makes up for in quirk factor. This is a truly glorious street in terms of things that "Run and Shoot" holds dear...that is, there are a bunch of weird lawn ornaments on it. I'm a sucker for a weird statue, and this street contains some lovely Asian lawn lions, a samurai warrior statue, a bear holding up a mailbox, a weird brass anthropomorphic dog statue with huge claw hands wearing what appears to be a pilot's uniform from World War II, something that appears to be a miniature Trojan horse rendered in stone, a mailbox that is posted on a strange chain link post that looks like a chain chomp from Super Mario Bros, and of course...this Marble Ostrich, because why WOULDN'T you want a marble ostrich in front of your home? Safe to say this street will probably be heard from again in the future. Long live Cherryville Road!

In music news, Mumford and Sons dropped their third studio album "Wilder Mind" yesterday, and this morning's run was the first time I had a chance to give it a listen. I am unapologetically a fan of the band, but I was nervous about this new album's sound, what with it's complete abandonment of banjos...a big part of their previous success. I listened through it twice while running, and I feel safe in proclaiming that I like it. I'm not sure yet if it has the staying power their previous albums held in my rotation, but after spinning through it two times, I'm digging it. It made for good running music, too. My only complaint would be with it's strange mix that sometimes uses the stereo to toss the sound back and forth from ear to ear...which made me think a couple of times that my earbuds might be giving out. It's a weird, and unnecessary effect, but it's a small complaint for music I'm truly enjoying and wanting to hear more.

Two Hundred Seventy-Four

May 3, 2015
8.08 Miles in 1:15:16
Mood: Sightseeing
Soundtrack: Robert DeLong "Long Way Down" and "Just Movement" and "Spotify Sessions"

After spending some time in the Capitol Hill neighborhood the previous weekend, I was determined to do a little exploration of this area via running. It was a gorgeous May morning, so I drove up to Cheesman Park and began my self guided two legged tour.

It's a bit overwhelming just how much cool stuff I saw on this run. I passed by the Governor's Mansion, the Grant-Humphrey's Mansion, The Sports Castle, The Denver Art Museum, The State Capitol Building, the Molly Brown House, an elementary school with some very cool graffiti art, a tremendous Colorado Avalanche wall mural, City Park, the Denver Zoo, and so many excellent lawn lions. It was an eventful and fun 8 mile tour, the only hard part about it was deciding which of my many photos to use for this run.

I ended up deciding to use my photo of the Denver Art Museum. This place was the unofficial hub of my weekend, as I walked down this sidewalk no fewer than three different times over the two days. The kids and I spent a few hours at the Art Museum on Saturday, then I hit it up again Sunday morning on this run, and finally later Sunday afternoon I'd end up here yet again en route to Civic Center Park where the whole family enjoyed the Cinco de Mayo festival.

I decided to use this photo for a few reasons. One, this is just a tremendously weird building. I love it. The goofy angles are far from practical, but why should an art museum be a nice sensible building? The answer, of course, is that it shouldn't be.  So I wanted to use this picture because this building represents everything I love about architecture...My theory is that the best buildings are interesting, unique and memorable. If you can also make your building a little awe inspiring, that's even better. Art over utility is a must, although to be fair, this building does a remarkable job of displaying art, so it is a champ at utility too...Just a cool place all around.

The second reason that I used this photo is because of the awesome clouds. I can get a picture of the art museum pretty much whenever I want, but it won't always be accompanied by a gorgeous deep blue sky and impressive clouds, so I felt obliged to use this picture from this day. Running a close second in the competition to be the photo of the day was a picture of the Avalanche wall mural, which is epic. I hope to use it on the blog at some point, but that point was not going to be today...the clouds sealed it in favor of the DAM.

Two Hundred Seventy-Three

May 1, 2015
7.41 Miles in 1:11:44
Mood: Down on shuffle
Soundtrack: Passenger "All the Little Lights" / Dan Le Sac vs Scroobius Pip "Angles"

I think I'm the last person on earth who cares about the order of songs on an album. I have certain albums that I need to hear in correct order...the order the artist themselves put time into considering. This morning I started trying to listen to Passenger's album "All the Little Lights" on Spotify, and somehow I ended up inadvertently hitting the shuffle button. I hate shuffle...it ruins the integrity of the album. I kept trying to figure it out so I could hear the songs in the correct order, and after about five or six attempts, I finally was able to get it running correctly. It really got me thinking about my weird ticks. Theoretically, it shouldn't matter at all which order the songs in an album play, and it certainly shouldn't throw me into an existential crisis, yet it bothers me immensely...to the point I was going mad trying to figure it out.

May hit this morning, and it brought with it Deep South levels of humidity. It's been a bit rainy this week, but wow, this morning was hazy and damp and made me think I was perhaps in Alabama instead of Colorado. Extremely weird for us.

Finally, today's picture... A few years ago, I might have found it odd to find a giant pig statue in someone's yard. However, as I continue to uncover neighborhood oddities, this now seems perfectly reasonable. I thought to myself as I encountered this for the first time this morning, "Yeah, a huge brass pig, that feels about right."