i was afraid i'd eat your brains

Hoo, what went down this weekend? Ah yes, the Balloon Fiesta.

Start from Thursday night: I spent a while in the art studio wrapping up a screenprint project of a hummingbird, inspired by my Grandma Lydia's wish and promise of a ribbon shirt. Mo came to my house later, and we had a good time with some vocal takes of the hip hop track I'd been working on for a while.

Friday, I had no class. Cook and I got a coffee in the morning, and once Ben, Daniel, and JJ (who was hungover) came to the house, we had to get gas, pick up a camera and film, and get some lunch, and then we were finally off to Albuquerque. We had all sorts of other things happen that delayed our trip all over the place, but we made it to Santa Fe by 8 o'clock (also picking up JJ's friend Nayo beforehand), and Mom, Dad, and Grandma met us for some dinner over at Maria's. It was a fun time together, and then we had to take Nayo home before getting lost in Santa Fe and then finally making our way back home. We chilled in the backyard and had some beers before going to sleep...

...for four hours. We woke early and made our way down to the balloon fiesta grounds, amidst a lot of traffic, and found a nice place to set up our chairs, eat breakfast burritos, coffee, juice, and mini-cinnamon rolls, and watch the balloons fly. It was a nice day, so the mass ascension was pretty decent. We took a lot of pictures and just enjoyed the atmosphere for a while, and after a lap around the park among the vendors, we left home. All of us took a quick nap, and then Mom and Dad woke us with some Dion's pizza for lunch. We took some showers, got dressed and ready, and Ben, JJ and I went on a drive out to Central and Nob Hill to go see the hotel where they filmed some parts of No Country for Old Men. We spent some time at the shops, and I purchased a cool t-shirt from this local artist. It was a nice afternoon walking around the area and enjoying the atmosphere of Albuquerque, and after getting a snack at Flying Star, we went on a drive through downtown and the Rio Grande valley, driving through all the large Southwestern-style ranch houses and buildings. The weather was trippy, too, as there was a large thunderstorm on the east side of the Sandias. We picked up some sour cream and beer from Trader Joe's, and then we came home to have a dinner of beef and chicken fajitas with the family. The rest of the night was spent at home. I set up a camp fire in the backyard, put some more beers in the fridge, and Alex Taft, Emelye, and Sarah Yost and her boyfriend came over to hang out for a while with me, the other two, and Chey and Alan. We caught up on our lives with each other in conversation, and it was a nice, nostaligic feeling to just talk with the friends that I've known all of my school life in Albuquerque. The old and the new friends...it was a good time. Everyone left and we were all asleep by 1245.

We woke early this morning, and we packed quickly, ate a nice dinner of pumpkin pancakes with eggs and bacon with my Dad, and once Daniel came over to the house, we left for Colorado once again. It was a nice drive, almost quicker, but maybe that was because we left so much earlier in the morning then last Friday. JJ and I listened to a lot of music and a good episode of This American Life that was about a cop who did an undercover report with a tape recorder. In Trinidad, we stopped for lunch at Sonic, and I got a cheeseburger with tater tots and a cherry limeade. Classic. Ben took over the wheel of my car there, and the rest of the drive seemed even quicker then the first part. We passed through Pueble and C. Springs like nothing, and it felt like an early arrival into Denver and then into Boulder. I dropped my stuff in my room before getting on the bus to campus right away, and at the library, I spent a while doing all my readings for my Asian American class that I should have done all semester long. Oh well. After some hours, I got hungry for Asian food (ironic?), so I went to Tra Lings, got some sesame tofu and lo mein and rice, and did some more readings. I did a long walk home, listening to The National, and after a craving for something creamy and sweet, I went to Sunflower and bought some yogurt and some other groceries.

Tomorrow's going to be a big, long day, so it's time to get to bed and get ready for all the craziness.

-c