Denver Trip
Jun. 18th, 2010 07:34 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
livingdebLast weekend, Robin and I went to Denver to celebrate his friend T's graduation.
Even though it's summer I wimped out and wore jeans and brought a hoodie because people like to really overdo the air conditioning, like in airports and airplanes. I had already had a pair of long pants packed, but just left them in the suitcase; there was plenty of room. I knew we were going hiking right after we got in, and I'd just have to find a place to change into shorts.
When we arrived in Denver, it was 38 degrees. And the really sad thing is that none of the eleven guests thought to actually look up the weather, so T lent us all an extra layer. Watching us was like watching her closet walking around.
On the way to the mountains we actually drove through snow.
Favorite childhood driving story - M said that when he was a kid, his mom explained that they were about to go under this lake she pointed to. Sure enough, they get to a tunnel and he knows just what's going on. But he wonders why no one on the bus is closing their windows. And that's how he learned that if you driver under the lake fast enough, you don't have to close the windows.
Other fun driving conversations:
R - "Runaway Truck Ramp? What is it, six million water balloons?"
T - "Yep. That's where rivers come from."
[Time to switch lanes]
R - "I'd look for a white car to cut off."
T - "But we're the white car to cut off."
S - "You've cut yourself off."
T - "I can't move back to Texas. No magpies."
M - "But you'll get mockingbirds back."
R - "And grackles."
When we got there, we walked through rain and hail. Tiny, cute hail. We actually liked the hail better than the rain because it would just bounce off of us instead of getting absorbed.
I tasted my first (and second) pierogi. Yum.
We split into groups to explore. My group went to the scenic overlook.
We came back to this.
The next day we went to a party where the host basically begged us not to bring any food or wine. After attending the party, we understood.
Here's what happened. When we arrived, a large round coffee table was completely covered in plates of hors d'oeuvres. As one got close to being only 1/4 full, it would be replaced with a new plate of something different. This went on the entire time that ice cream was being churned on the back porch. They did allow guests to crank the ice cream maker. Then we sat down to dinner were several dishes were passed around. Then they just couldn't help bringing out a couple of more dishes and a couple of more dishes and then homemade peach ice cream and seconds on ice cream and then just a couple of more desserts. Also, lots of alcohol. Many different kinds. Including homemade wine. And commercial alcohols no one had ever tasted, like a couple of lemony things--regular and creamy.
Many people decided that putting Parmesan rind in beans (along with the usual garlic, etc.) makes them taste fabulous. We did agree that mushrooms still warm from cooking in butter are excellent. And lettuces from the backyard are a good idea.
It was clear that these guys love throwing this kind of party. I forgot to pay attention to how much they actually got to interact with their guests. My impression is that there wasn't much interaction before the dinner but that they did get to spend the majority of the time during and after dinner hanging out with us.
Favorite party quote: "The risotto is a bit sticky because my wife's husband didn't finish it right."
About half the guests were vegetarian. And they did not have to go with their usual policy of "Don't ask, don't tell." The host just came right out and explained that the only meat was that on the two skewered dishes. There was no lard hiding in the beans or anything like that. Sweet!
Favorite vegetarian story: One time when these vegetarians were actually in the majority, they ganged up on the meat eaters asking them questions. "What made you decide to start eating meat?" "Do you eat meat for health reasons or moral reasons?" "Doesn't that get boring after a while?" "So, is your diet healthy? How do you get your fiber?" "Do you always have to cook your food? Can't you ever just get something out of the refrigerator and eat it?"
I didn't really expect a three-day weekend with a large group of people, most of whom I don't know at all and only one of whom I know well, to be that fun. Especially since we spent a lot of time driving around.
(I bet no one else even noticed this as we drove by.)
But all of the people were quite interesting and I had a really nice time.
Most of them had serious life goals that made me feel like a lazy good-for-nothing.
* two math lovers, starting graduate programs in math, making me want to check out Mathematics: The Loss of Certainty because of the awesome writing style. One of them is lazy, but this pushes her to discover brilliant ways to get things done - she'd rather figure out an efficient way to do it than just do it some known but mind-numbing way.
* one person in grad school studying how to resist attempts to persuade you. When she finishes her masters, she may get her PhD from a psychology department or a marketing department.
* one person studying birth rituals and how they change when birth gets medicalized.
* one person studying something involving Tibet
* one person writing a new Bible
* one person helping poor people, who will always be poor due to factors like disability and low IQ, teaching them basic survival skills
* one person volunteering in hospitals.
I also got to hear a little Tibetan spoken--it sounds completely unfamiliar to me.
I got to see someone knitting the continental style (yarn in the left hand) who takes her hand off the knitting needle to wrap the yarn just like I do using the English style. She learned to knit by just showing up at a yarn store and asking someone how. And she just started a couple of weeks ago and is already doing stuff I don't know how to do.
I didn't listen quite well enough when hearing about life in Madagascar.
And I end with a picture for the hostess. These white flowers were more spectacular in real life.
Even though it's summer I wimped out and wore jeans and brought a hoodie because people like to really overdo the air conditioning, like in airports and airplanes. I had already had a pair of long pants packed, but just left them in the suitcase; there was plenty of room. I knew we were going hiking right after we got in, and I'd just have to find a place to change into shorts.
When we arrived in Denver, it was 38 degrees. And the really sad thing is that none of the eleven guests thought to actually look up the weather, so T lent us all an extra layer. Watching us was like watching her closet walking around.
On the way to the mountains we actually drove through snow.
Favorite childhood driving story - M said that when he was a kid, his mom explained that they were about to go under this lake she pointed to. Sure enough, they get to a tunnel and he knows just what's going on. But he wonders why no one on the bus is closing their windows. And that's how he learned that if you driver under the lake fast enough, you don't have to close the windows.
Other fun driving conversations:
R - "Runaway Truck Ramp? What is it, six million water balloons?"
T - "Yep. That's where rivers come from."
[Time to switch lanes]
R - "I'd look for a white car to cut off."
T - "But we're the white car to cut off."
S - "You've cut yourself off."
T - "I can't move back to Texas. No magpies."
M - "But you'll get mockingbirds back."
R - "And grackles."
When we got there, we walked through rain and hail. Tiny, cute hail. We actually liked the hail better than the rain because it would just bounce off of us instead of getting absorbed.
I tasted my first (and second) pierogi. Yum.
We split into groups to explore. My group went to the scenic overlook.
We came back to this.
The next day we went to a party where the host basically begged us not to bring any food or wine. After attending the party, we understood.
Here's what happened. When we arrived, a large round coffee table was completely covered in plates of hors d'oeuvres. As one got close to being only 1/4 full, it would be replaced with a new plate of something different. This went on the entire time that ice cream was being churned on the back porch. They did allow guests to crank the ice cream maker. Then we sat down to dinner were several dishes were passed around. Then they just couldn't help bringing out a couple of more dishes and a couple of more dishes and then homemade peach ice cream and seconds on ice cream and then just a couple of more desserts. Also, lots of alcohol. Many different kinds. Including homemade wine. And commercial alcohols no one had ever tasted, like a couple of lemony things--regular and creamy.
Many people decided that putting Parmesan rind in beans (along with the usual garlic, etc.) makes them taste fabulous. We did agree that mushrooms still warm from cooking in butter are excellent. And lettuces from the backyard are a good idea.
It was clear that these guys love throwing this kind of party. I forgot to pay attention to how much they actually got to interact with their guests. My impression is that there wasn't much interaction before the dinner but that they did get to spend the majority of the time during and after dinner hanging out with us.
Favorite party quote: "The risotto is a bit sticky because my wife's husband didn't finish it right."
About half the guests were vegetarian. And they did not have to go with their usual policy of "Don't ask, don't tell." The host just came right out and explained that the only meat was that on the two skewered dishes. There was no lard hiding in the beans or anything like that. Sweet!
Favorite vegetarian story: One time when these vegetarians were actually in the majority, they ganged up on the meat eaters asking them questions. "What made you decide to start eating meat?" "Do you eat meat for health reasons or moral reasons?" "Doesn't that get boring after a while?" "So, is your diet healthy? How do you get your fiber?" "Do you always have to cook your food? Can't you ever just get something out of the refrigerator and eat it?"
I didn't really expect a three-day weekend with a large group of people, most of whom I don't know at all and only one of whom I know well, to be that fun. Especially since we spent a lot of time driving around.
(I bet no one else even noticed this as we drove by.)
But all of the people were quite interesting and I had a really nice time.
Most of them had serious life goals that made me feel like a lazy good-for-nothing.
* two math lovers, starting graduate programs in math, making me want to check out Mathematics: The Loss of Certainty because of the awesome writing style. One of them is lazy, but this pushes her to discover brilliant ways to get things done - she'd rather figure out an efficient way to do it than just do it some known but mind-numbing way.
* one person in grad school studying how to resist attempts to persuade you. When she finishes her masters, she may get her PhD from a psychology department or a marketing department.
* one person studying birth rituals and how they change when birth gets medicalized.
* one person studying something involving Tibet
* one person writing a new Bible
* one person helping poor people, who will always be poor due to factors like disability and low IQ, teaching them basic survival skills
* one person volunteering in hospitals.
I also got to hear a little Tibetan spoken--it sounds completely unfamiliar to me.
I got to see someone knitting the continental style (yarn in the left hand) who takes her hand off the knitting needle to wrap the yarn just like I do using the English style. She learned to knit by just showing up at a yarn store and asking someone how. And she just started a couple of weeks ago and is already doing stuff I don't know how to do.
I didn't listen quite well enough when hearing about life in Madagascar.
And I end with a picture for the hostess. These white flowers were more spectacular in real life.
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no subject
on 2010-06-19 04:35 pm (UTC)Thanks for coming :-)
no subject
on 2010-06-21 02:02 am (UTC)