Ruins, Gentlemen, and the Career I Wish I Had

Ok, here is the last trio of lessons:

Sunday, Jan 18:
I went for a walk last Friday with Elisa on Cascade Avenue. Cascade is one of the streets in downtown Colorado Springs that has beautiful, old, huge houses. So we passed one of the houses and it caught my eye because it was bright pink. On the front of the house was a plaque that said, "Hungo Pavi 1922." So Sunday I looked it up. Hungo Pavi is an ancient great house ruin located in Chaco Canyon National Historical Park in New Mexico. It is un-excavated and much of the ruins are now covered by desert ands and vegetation. It had over 150 rooms in it. Chacoan people occupied Hungo Pavi beginning around 1000AD. There are some cool pictures here.

I haven't figured out why the pink house has the plaque on it, or what the significance of the year '1922' is. Some things are just a mystery.

Monday, Jan 19:
Monday was a really great day. I spent time outside in the Colorado sun with my mom and my dogs, and then I went to Denver with some of my favorite people. We went shopping and ate dinner at Casa Bonita. While shopping, I received a bit of cultural education about cuff links. I have always known that they are meant for cuffs, of course (I'm really good with contextual clues), but I had never actually seen someone wearing them and didn't really know how they worked. I saw a bunch of cuff link sets at Banana Republic and it prompted the question. My friend Toby told me that they work with a specific type of shirt- one with French cuffs. He demonstrated how they work on a shirt in the store. It's a small thing, but I feel better for knowing it.

There are definitely some cheesy cuff links out there, even in Banana Republic stores, but I still think I like the idea of them. They're classy. The only downside to cuff links is that they prevent the wearer from doing the masculine after-work sleeve roll. Ladies, you know the one- where they unbutton their cuff and roll it up to about the elbow? I have a thing for the sleeve roll. And I have it on good authority that I'm not the only girl who does. So guys, here's a lesson for you: The question of cuff links is a win-win. Choose cuff links and you are a gentleman. Choose against cuff links and do the sleeve roll, and you're golden.

Tuesday, Jan 20:
Today was inauguration day. Like many people, I listened to our new president address the nation for the first time in his post. I'd love to hear your reactions to the speech, by the way. But I am not going to blog about politics. It's not my bag. I did learn something interesting, though. One of Obama's top speech writers is 27. You read right. He's TWENTY-SEVEN. And pretty Gap-chic, judging by the picture. But the point is- I think I'm in the wrong field. This guy writes speeches that the world hears. He gets paid to craft ideas into words to reach the masses. And he apparently does it in marathon sittings fueled by coffee and Rock Band video game intermissions.

I am totally in the wrong field.