In the mouth of two or three witnesses...

I've been preaching this for a while. Especially the email etiquette. Get with it people. Click here for the word. And then live it.

cute AND funny.

I've honestly been really busy. Work has been like riding a livid testicle-tied bull 13 hours a day, every day. (This is merely an analogy, for those that just became very excited about my job.) There's been plenty to blog about, and I'm ashamed that's it's been so long since my last post. Adding insult to injury, this post is going to be plagiarized from Franiel's blog. Not even my life. "Things we swear happened (to somebody else)."

Oh well. I'm lame. Let's move on.

This is a new video of my nephew Liam who has just begun to experiment with crawling. Watch it all the way through, because the good stuff happens in the last two seconds.

it's a free country

and i vote for a post from jaime.

seriously.

that's all.

Howdy Stranger, Yonder is Jackson Hole

Sitting in the snow with Annie atop Teton Pass's Glory Peak was another one of those spiritual experiences. In reliable fashion, Annie enthusiastically led the schlepp straight up but it was my fat butt that required a breather at the top. It was a bright, sunny, blue-skied day. The first of it’s kind I’ve ever skied in this particular location. Three days earlier, on Friday, I was with Dave and Jessica Nieman and Scott Wheeler on the other side of the pass, sun shining then also at the beginning of a great weekend.

But Monday was just Annie and me on the mountain. Celebrating dead presidents on the top of the world. I think backcountry snowboarding with Annie is my new favorite activity. Of all peaks to bag with her, Teton Pass has to be the pinnacle, no pun intended (okay, maybe a little).

Other highlights of our long weekend:

• Roadtripping with Jaime and Annie in the Jetta. We took the scenic route home through Grand Teton National Park and felt like we were the only ones there. Such is winter in GTNP, I guess. Even on a blue sky day with open roads. Lucky enough, we had Autobahn-friendly driving weather taking us past 100 MPH on Highway 287 through Shoshone Territory in WY. Jaime’s a fantastic road trip companion, and Annie chills in the back seat with her chin resting on the center console in between the two front seats for hours on end.

• Staying with Will, Jamie and Ellie Bean Anderson (and Oakley the choco-lab) in Will's Man-Cave basement at their house in Idaho Falls.

• Getting the Niemans, Wheelers, Andersons and Forsyths together. Food with old friends.

• Annie and Oakley, the labs, living together under one roof. Yes, we know we find the simplest things comical. On some subconscious level, this might have been the main reason we made this trip: “Annie Oakley."

See more the photos here.

new practice

I’ve decided I’m going to keep an email draft open on my desktop at all times at work all day, everyday. It won’t be work related. Or it might be, but at least it won’t have to be. The only rule is that there will be no rules. If It turns into a work email, which it often does, I’ll just make sure to open a new blank slate, so there’s always one there, ready for brain spillage. Call it time theft. I call it therapy.

It may be lyrics. A blog post. A letter to a friend. To Jaime. To Santa Claus. Whatever.

I think this one is turning out the be a blog post. That’s the joy of copy+paste. It may start in Entourage (or Outlook for you PCs), but it probably won’t stay there.

The goal is singular and simple: write more. No restrictions or red tape. Just provide a canvas and eliminate excuses.

And just to prove that this is the first one, I’m keeping my signature on the bottom. Call my work phone sometime just for kicks and giggles. Say hi and keep me in check on my new practice.

If you would not be forgotten as soon as you are dead, either write things worth reading or do things worth writing.
Benjamin Franklin

I think we can agree that Ben did both. Our turn.

- -
Eric Forsyth
Content Manager
Crispin Porter + Bogusky
o: 303.527.7009
m: 720.205.8567
f: 303.516.0227
eforsyth@cpbgroup.com

Amos Lee

I've been listening to a lot of Amos Lee at work lately. I just read his Wiki bio. Those who know me best may understand the feelings that welled up inside of me as I read this one paragraph:

Born in 1978, Lee grew up in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Cherry Hill, New Jersey. He graduated from Cherry Hill High School East.[1] He enrolled at the University of South Carolina in 1995, graduating with an English degree. While attending the university, Lee's stepfather gave him an acoustic guitar. Lee also found a job at a record store that specialized in jazz musicians, where he picked up an affinity for Thelonious Monk and Miles Davis.[2] After college, he moved back to Philadelphia and taught elementary school for two years, but later made the decision to stop teaching in order to pursue a career in music. Lee released a self-produced EP that featured five songs in 2003, and was signed by Blue Note Records soon afterward. The EP sold well in Philadelphia, catching the attention of Norah Jones. Jones invited Lee to open for her on her 2004 tour. Lee has also taken part in shows with Bob Dylan, Van Morrison, Paul Simon and John Prine.[3]

[sigh....]

Truck on.

Can't wait for my next show in one week.

Meanwhile, thanks to everyone who has supported me and my music. Especially those who have picked up a CD. And winning kudos to those who share the sound with others and brought unsuspecting friends to shows.

I'm working on some new stuff, slowly but surely.

Truck on.

[sigh....]

He finally did it.

I feel like joining him today.

Children of the Corn

Jaime substitute taught today. Apparently, they were not model students. She sent me this email from her iPhone in the middle of the day, and I had to laugh. Even though I knew she wasn't.

Things we wish hadn't happened

Sunday, we went on a hike through undiscovered trails in the open space next to our neighborhood. Which was great. Until Annie's unsuccessful attempt to hurdle a barbed wire fence. Fortunately, it was near the end of our walk and we took her straight to the car and into Boulder Emergency Pet Clinic.

Big ouch. Seeing Annie in all that pain broke my heart more than I expected it to. Not that this was expected. At all. Financially, or otherwise. The bright side, if there is one: Annie, the world's best dog, saved us $200 by not needing general anesthesia for her sutures.

Sunday night was a tough one, as she was still stoned from her I.V. administered opiate, pacing the apartment in her plastic Elizabethan collar, whimpering in pain and confusion. Eventually, Jaime fell asleep with her arm around Annie on the floor of the living room in the middle of the night.

For 12 days, she'll live in that collar any time we're not looking at her. No running, jumping, long walks, or dog park. Just pain meds and antibiotics.




I think I'll end this on a more positive image that sums up life with Annie. Taken 24 hrs after her lost fight with the barbed wire:

Heed the fire safety sign, kids.

You may have heard about fires in Boulder this week. Burnt through the hills, destroyed a house or three, and evacuated thousands of homes. Nobody was hurt, so that's good. It's no fun when people lose their homes; fire isn't funny, but this photo is real, and funny. And ridiculous.