It's been a while since I rambled, despite the fact that the last three evenings have been fun filled and action packed. Well, maybe that's why there have been no ramblings. Spend the day/evening in all manner of activity, and there's no time or energy left to ramble after all of it.

Even now, it's quite past my bedtime. Nevertheless, I feel the need to do a quickie braindump. Here goes.

Saturday night: Bitscape, feeling bored and sick of sitting inside the house, takes Tobias on a journey to the streets of downtown Denver. Before long, he finds himself at an address which has somehow been etched into his memory over the years. Although the name has changed at least a couple of times, the phrase from repeated radio advertisements cannot be forgotten: 1082 Broadway.

Upon arriving [switching randomly back to first person], I discovered that the cover charge was rather high. Insanely high, in fact. Had I been in my right mind, I probably would have just said "forget it", but I was already there, and didn't feel like turning back, especially after all the orbiting I had gone through to get a parking space. Out came the happy bank account depletion card.

(Oh dear. I was going to try to be brief with this, wasn't I? I was thinking ONE paragraph per event. I should know by now that such a thought is pure fantasy.)

I surveyed the premises (all 3 stories of it, plus basement level), wandered around, stared at the CGI patterns being projected onto the giant screens, shook my ass on the dance floor for a bit, which included going through the typical initial stage of self consciousness before I truly started enjoying it.

It was fun for a while, but after a bit -- I'm guessing a half hour or so -- the whole thing began to seem rather tedius and mundane. I just wasn't inspired to go anymore. It took me about 30 microseconds to realize why. Over the speakers, the same beat was played the entire time, albeitwith minor variations and different samples layered on top every few minutes. It was grating my brain. It had been fun to jump to for a while, but ultimately, there was no heart to it.

I took a seat, wandered around some more, and found minor amusement at the effects of the ultraviolet lights which practically covered the basement ceiling (with little other illumination). The place really was nicely decorated.

And back up to the top level, with the giant hardwood dance floor. I just sat and watched though. Listened as samples of the familiar voice of Morpheus were woven into the rhythm. ("And I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes." "Take the red pill." "Take the blue pill." "Take the red pill" "...And I show you how deep...")

Shortly after that, I felt quite tired, and left. Slept very well that night, thank you.

Sunday -- Zan Lynx had called back while I was in the shower and left a message in my voice mail. I called his land line, and the meeting was arranged. This time, it would occur at what I shall dub the Flagstaff Compound.

Packed Argo into Tobias, taking along a minimal complement of equipment and supplies (compared to festing), and headed up the mountain. Found the old familiar house quite easily. I hadn't set foot in there since... almost half my lifetime ago. Zan Lynx had arranged a spot in his basement dwelling where I could situate Argo. Setup was quick and painless, and soon, we were deep in a series of Quake 3 matches. Q3 can be one very intense game!

His mom served us some delicious spaghetti, which included a turkey meatball-ish sauce. Mmmm...

More Quake 3, some Myth 2, and we watched eXistenZ, which I had not yet returned to the Video Station. I believe the word Zan Lynx used to describe it was, "Wierd."

It's amazing how fast such a day can go. A little talk, and a few more games later, and not only was the sun gone, but it was after 2000. Crazy. After a final Q3 match (I'm getting better and better at that game), I packed up Argo, and departed. There was some concern as to the slipperyness of the mountain roads, but they turned out to be happily dry.

Once home, and with Argo back up, I slept soundly for another night. Morning came altogether too early.

Monday Evening -- After squeezing in an after work jog, I made haste to the Shambhala Center in Boulder. Gained instruction in the ways of meditation, and listened to the director of the center give a talk about Buddhism, religion, and spirituality. A most excellent class.

At the end, he invited anyone who wanted to to join him in going to dinner. At first, due to the concerns of sleep, I wasn't going to. But the temptation was too much. I wanted to hear more of what this guy had to say. Besides, I was hungry. I globbed onto the dinner group.

We walked down to Pasta Joe's, which is located, of course, on the hallowed Pearl Street. There turned out to be five of us total. Ate yummy pasta while each person said bits and pieces about themself, including how they became interested enough to attend the Buddhism class. More discussion about religion, spirituality, the Civil War (a.k.a. "The Northern Aggression"), etc.

Anyway... while walking back down Pearl Street with full bellies, more discussion about Buddhist philosophy, which mostly consisted of questions from members of the group (myself included), followed by insightful explanations by the teacher.

Eventually, it came time for me to break off to return to my parking space. Said farewall to all present, and took my leave. I'm glad I went.

Halfway home, I rested my hand on the passenger seat, to discover... a Video Station case. Doh! eXistenZ.

I had planned to drop it off after the class because I had been in a rush on my way there. I think it was due by 2200, and since it was 2300 by the time I drove home, there will probably be a late fee. Oh well.

I think I should buy myself a copy of that movie.

And here I am. It's after midnight. I have work in the morning, and I'm rambling. I suspect I'm going to be dead tired tomorrow.

There it is. The recap. On to dreamland.