So what's new?

[zach2000]

ansible... very well-written post. i can sense the writer in you for sure.

i hope Colorado is a good reset for you. i live in Louisiana so i can imagine how horrible it would be to live with your illness in a climate like ours. i hate it and i'm generally healthy, though a little fucked in the head to be honest -- but i can cope with it.

anyway, wish you and the family nothing but the best. i know what it's like to want to be in a creative field and to wonder how the hell it's even possible. i make a minimal amount of money from doing what i love, i.e. making comics, but i don't intend to stop any time soon.

keep it up.

[numan_the_son]

I went surfing at the outer banks last weekend.

Numan, you were in North Carolina?

I was yeah! Drove up there from Pittsburgh for one day with a stop in DC to pick people up. Crazy. The US is beautiful.

[ansible]

I tried to write a little individual response to each of you and then I failed (double irony?), so let me just say thank you and that your words mean a lot. I know there isn't much to say, and that is okay. Thanks for just taking the time to read and reply. My whole life is so in flux at the moment, I'm just putting one foot in front of the other.

The last month has been tough. And of course we procrastinated and barely packed everything in time. And I had to drive the 26' van like 1200 miles.

But.

We fuckin made it.

[ansible]

Also, corey, I miss you dude. You better get your ass up to FC soon so we can hang out. Actually, I can't wait for that. I remember that house show where we met. Feels like a long time ago.

One of the stranger parts of all of this is living somewhere I deliberately chose, on purpose, where I might live for a very long time, and I don't know a single person. Not even one.

At least the public library is really awesome.

[SkeletonRock]

Ran into Milk while we both happened to be in PDX on the same day. We ate some amazing food and drank beer before I had to take him back to the airport. I only knew he was there because I saw his post on instagram, something he pretty much never uses. One small example of social media being a good thing that actually unites people instead of evil.

It was great to see you, Ben.

[ansible]

I can't believe you guys didn't invite me.

[sherpa141]

haha milk's shirt says finger

[Mattmon]

Milk, that's a blast from the past. Still have 2 mix CDs he sent me in the mail from like 2003. Haha. Glad he so alive And well.

[booze dog]

Yo guys, this place is lit.

[jeffrey]

The last time I posted here was just before I moved Alaska, and my life has been very different since then.

I moved to a tiny Alaskan town for 6 months, drank like a college kid, got into a serious relationship there, went backpacking in South East Asia which was a less than enjoyable but very good experience, ended relationship, moved to Arizona for the fuck of it for a couple months, lived in my car running trails in the high desert )northen AZ and southern Utah) for a month, moved to the Yukon for 5 months and ran trails and drank like college once again, ran a 120 mile trail race, then biked from Canada to Mexico along the west coast. 4 days ago I moved back to my home town to go back to and finish up school.

I knew I loved my hometown when I left it 2 years ago, but made myself leave because I know it would be a good experience to live and travel other places before settling down here. I'm just so happy to be able to relax in one place for a while, have a home, community, normal routine, etc after the past 2 years of being a nomad. Still probably won't be settled down for good just yet, just to finish my bachelors. There's still a few other places I want to travel or live for a bit. And I'm really in love with the Yukon and could possibly end up there (or AK) for a long time instead of my home town in Washington.

I don't know if I feel more like Sam or Frodo.

[corey]

Just realized I never mentioned I became a father this summer. A boy.

It's the best.

[faz]

Just realized I never mentioned I became a father this summer. A boy.

It's the best.

congrats. it truly is the best.

i have a little boy. he's 2 1/2. i'm no longer with his mother and she's currently stopping me from seeing him. it's tough. but when i do get to spend a little time with him he just makes my world a better place. cherish every second with your little man.

[noah]

I also just had a boy. First kiddo. He's nearly 6 months. Video from last month:

Luca Goes to Roselle Park

[faz]

I also just had a boy. First kiddo. He's nearly 6 months. Video from last month:

Luca Goes to Roselle Park

Awesome! Congrats. Little boys are truly the best!

[sherpa141]

I moved to Carbondale, Colorado, from Carrboro, North Carolina, in May 2015. I was in a relationship at the time that wasn't very promising, but I moved with her anyway when she took a job with the City of Aspen straight out of grad school at University of North Carolina.

Like many people in this rural valley with a resort-driven economy, I worked numerous jobs to get by. I was full-time at a run/hike specialty shop in Carbondale for a little more than a year, and was working part-time as a guide at the (world class) Aspen Art Museum. For about half a year, I was working three jobs: the two aforementioned, and as a freelance reporter for a public radio station. For maybe 9 months I didn't have consecutive days off: stupid schedule at the run store was off Sunday and Tuesday, and I often used Sunday to work at the Art Museum and Tuesday to work on stories at the radio station.

After being invited to interview for a couple of full-time positions with the station (and subsequently turned down), I decided to get serious about pursuing other full-time work that would allow me to drop all the other jobs. I got a FT job at the City of Aspen's historic performance venue, the Wheeler Opera House, with solid salary and benefits ... and was subsequently offered another chance at a FT position with the public radio station. I was just about over it at that point, but spent a lot of time talking to friends and family about the opportunity, and finally decided to take it. Put in my notice with the City after just two weeks on the job, which I felt terrible about, but to my colleagues' credit, they were understanding, supportive, and enthusiastic about me leaving for what is admittedly my dream job in radio. I'm glad I took the job, though it has its stressors ... I've never been a morning person, but now I'm up at 5:10 a.m. or so to come in and host Morning Edition, which means going to bed around 9 p.m. and engaging in very little social activity during the week. I'm on the air starting at just past 6 M-F, and stay on until 9.

Along with hosting NPR's Morning Edition, I'm the ops/program manager, so I program and maintain the station's automation system and various equipment, set up ISDNs with the BBC and other organizations (we have lots of famous [in a public radio sense] retirees who live in Aspen who come in for interviews), set up and run audio for on-air forums on ballot issues or debates between candidates for office, sweep snow off the giant NPR satellite dish, etc. etc.

Aspen is a very dog-friendly town (except for when you're trying to find housing), and I actually bring my dog (which was Calendar Girl's dog for a year as a puppy) to work everyday. My other dog, Rasheed aka Sheed aka Rasheed Wallace's Bald Spot, died unexpectedly in the kennel sometime overnight on the last day of November/first of December while I was on my first vacation from the station. It was one of the most tragic, awful events in my life. He was close to turning 11, but was in excellent health and physical shape, was still super muscular and fit, agile, etc. We climbed Colorado's highest point, Mt. Elbert (14,440') in October, and he loved it and did great.

After the relationship that brought me out here ended (after living together for about 6 months), I was single for a little less than two months and then dated an evangelical Christian for about 7 months. It was mostly positive. We parted on good terms, and both knew for the length of the relationship that it wasn't going to be a permanent thing due to substantial philosophical differences. Interestingly, she's one of the few liberal/progressive evangelicals that I've ever spent time with. Perhaps even more interesting ... I'm now dating her roommate, who is an attorney and grew up in Denver but whose parents are both from South Carolina, so we share that southern connection. She even eats grits, which I don't fuck with, even when my moms make 'em.

I don't have kids. I spend a lot of time outdoors. I've been injured and haven't really been able to run for about 7 months. That sucks. I'm handling it all right, but it's hard on me mentally.