Happy New Year!

Hello.
This will be the last post of 2008, presumably. Perhaps someone else might put up a post later tonight, but it's unlikely. We're currently in the process of deciding what to do tonight. Justin is doing his best to figure it out by lying on the floor with his eyes closed next to the fire listening to Toumani Diabate. I'm feeling less than motivated to do anything at all here tonight, but we'll see what happens, and maybe I'll manage to stay out until 12:05. Frankly, I'd rather go skate skiing, I think. Tucker and I have been going to Big Sky each day for the last several days, and we continue to shape the lives of the American youth. Fantastic. We're proposing changing the names of the group levels to things like slug, snail, sloth, et cetera. Hopefully that will go well. I guess that that's all I really have to report. The parents have come and gone, and we have a plethora of cookies now. Enjoy 2009, and I hope you find good resolutions.

New Leaf Turning Over

(Yep, that's right. A real ranch-hand riding on good old Pecos.)


As you may have read, after a long season working on the prarie and borrowing a lot of garage time at the ranch, I went ahead and got the old shoulder worked on. Looks like it is going to put me down for some time. Something like 6 months until it is back to around 80% of normal. Damn blood flow. That is pretty much the end of any hockey or skiing/snowboarding plans this winter. There is always next year and you guys can show me the new terrain that you explored this year and will be more familiar with next. Anyways, along with rehabing the wing three times a day, I went ahead and jumped into the world of Facebook. This may seem to go against my prior convictions of, "if I have their number I will just call and talk to them rather than send an impersonal electronic note." I still believe this, but the free time I now have due to the shoulder was driving me a little crazy, not to mention that work is awfully slow and I fully expect to get let go everyday I show up. Anyways, I just signed up today and am a little overwhelmed with all it can apparently do, but I am sure that stuff will come with time. So, if I sent you out a friend request, humor me, and if I did not, don't feel bad, I probably don't fully realize how everything works yet.

All I want for Christmas is a neeeew brooooom...

Sang to the tune of "All I want for Christmas is yooouuuu."

Although I have done my fair share of cleaning the upstairs bathroom and vacuuming... I am ashamed to say that after about five months of living here, I picked up "the broom" for the first time this morning. After lavishing my attention on the kitchen counter tops countless times, I finally looked down a few minutes ago to an appalling sight of rice, crumbs, and dried pasta sauce beneath the overhangs of the counter doors. I picked up "the broom" and attempted to sweep the offenders into the lone broom pan, and essentially scattered them across the floor and onto the nearby carpet. This will not do, and my soul will cry a little bit each time I am forced to wield this mangled, gangley mess in an attempt to better The Ranch. And, as you can see, although Max refers to this spidery thing as "a relic of the house heritage" he is equally appalled.

Winter Mountain Weather

Today, in the Gallatin National Forest avalanche advisory, our dedicated avalanche forecasters reported that they had limited success surveying an area in the southern Madison Range, but they were "able to confirm that the wind was blowing and it was snowing." I love it. It has been cold and colder in the last week, and I've been going so far as to plug the car in at night and wear my super puffy down jacket. So, for those of you coming to Bozeman for the holidays, bring your winter gear. Also, bring some patience because when it is cold and there is a little snow on the road most Bozeman drivers seem to think that the speed limit on every road has been reduced to 15 m.p.h. If you were wondering, yes, this does get annoying, even when you are not in a hurry. The Subaru is handling like a champ, except when the dash lights cut out. I love electrical problems in cars.
In other political/Max news, my college degree got more valuable yesterday as Colorado Senator Ken Salazar, CC graduate, was nominated for Secretary of the Interior. I'm expecting a call from Barack this week for my appointment. Well, that's all the news for now; we'll have a entirely different post to cover Justin's and my indoor biking festival, going on all winter.
Max

Beer and Snow and Rock Glaciers

Hello trusty 511 Blog Readers! This is my first endeavor blogging under the 511 title...actually this is my first endeavor blogging, period. But seeing as how my school schedule is miraculously hollow today, I thought I'd take the opportunity to celebrate "The Ranch" along with my fellow 511 bloggers, past and present. I would concur with Max's descriptions of beer bread and giddy naked talk as being fabulous Sunday evening past times, and I would also ENTHUSIASTICALLY agree that Geology+ snow = love and peace, or whatever approximation he introduced in his post about Big Sky. I think about Big Sky a LOT, seeing as how I am studying a rock glacier on its Lone Mountain, but I have sadly spent less time actually at the locale. That will change, though, with obligatory "winter research" (i.e. days I figure out how to go snowboarding there on some sort of hijinxed pass). Bridger Bowl does have good snow, as of Saturday, at least, when we froze our bituxes off enjoying the morning pow ses (i.e."The Best Day of the World"). In conclusion, 511 Spring Creek is pretty much the best household a lowly grad. student moving here from CO could ever ask for, full of spirit and company and warmth. Its occupants are supportive and friendly and some can draw really remarkable imagined hybrid animals. Stay tuned for more beer and snow related adventures!

Post-modernism in a contemporary economic downturn.

Patrick has resisted our attempts to get him to join us (Max, Tucker, Becca, Allison, Danny, Julia, etc.) on Facebook and has instead suggested that we keep the blog going to maintain our friendships interactively. I've acquiesced, mostly because Patrick has a bum shoulder and we want to do something nice for him; plus, it's cold as hell outside and there isn't much else to do beside converse with friends in real life. Tonight we had a superb dinner party; Heather has joined us in Bozeman for a few days and we all got giddy on beer bread. In this season, why not? Bridger Bowl just opened the other day and has a lot of great snow, apparently, and Big Sky has been skiing really well, especially if you like rocks - geologists + Big Sky = peace and love! Aunge has even made a winter appearance here, and Becca made bongwater soup (JK Becca; it was great, and we loved it; Thanks!). As usual, the conversation of the evening started as small chat and moved towards speak of art and nudity. We hope that all faithful readers might be able to join us for our next family meal here at the ranch.
-Max