Boulder Street People

Growing up there were always people begging on the streets of boulder. Often you would see the same people in the same spots year after year. There is one guy on Pearl Street who is missing a leg or two who has been begging in front of the Boulder Bookstore as long as I can remember. There is the guy who stood at the intersection of Baseline and the 28th St off ramp. My dad saw this guy buying liquor at the booze store all the time. There was always people lazying on the lawn in front of the court house (until they made the grass off limits) or on the stage by the creek. The one thing all these people seemed to have in common was a hard life. You could see it in their eyes.

Recently I have noticed a change in the kind of people you find on the streets and the numbers. First off the numbers have been steadily rising. There are so many now that there aren't enough corners in the city for them all to have their own. I often see groups of them sitting under a tree while one member of the group stands at the street corner. Secondly they seem to be god dang lazy. I rarely see any that look like they have been through anything truly difficult. For the most part they seem like they are just too lazy to work and find it easier to prey on the not so smart tourist that come to Boulder. I first really noticed this when I was doing school work at the Starbucks on Pearl Street Mall during a snow storm. There was a large group of them sitting by near me. They all had huge backpacks full of expensive stuff. One guy had a Dell gaming computer and was playing World of Warcraft. I have been back to this same Starbucks a few times and continue to see the same thing. The WOW guy is always in there playing his game.

All of this leads me to who is really homeless and who is choosing to live on the streets for no other reason than it is free. It will be interesting to see what the police do come tourist season. I have already noticed an increase in their presence in the areas that are heavy with street people.

 *I took all of these photo's from inside Starbucks where I was supposed to be doing school work, but mostly just watched the people on the street.

30 Day Photography Challenge - Days 22 - 30

I have finally finished and don't feel like doing separate posts for each picture. I have had a lot of fun from this challenge. It has really made me think about what I photograph and how. I think I have grown a lot in my abilities. I would like to do a 365 challenge sometime this year. 

Day 22 - Hands

I really wanted to do the cliche heart with the hands for this shot. I don't have a tripod for my DSLR so I took two pictures and put them together. Not the nest, but the best I could do with my knowledge and equipment. 

Day 23 - Sunflare

 Day 24 - Animal

Day 25 - Something Pink

I love my pink 4-wheeling helmet. Hopefully soon I can put it to use. 

Day 26 - Close-Up 

Day 27 - From a distance

Not really from a distance, but it was the farthest I could go and have it still look good. 

Day 28 - Flowers

Day 29 - Black and White

 The husband and niece running. Not the easiest subjects to photograph.

Day 30 - Self Portrait 

My biggest project with editing software. Not sure how well I like it. I still need to learn lots.

Small Goals for Big Goals - March

The highlight for the month of February was getting my DSLR camera and getting to take it to Steamboat. I found the health and fitness goals the hardest to achieve. This is something that I have struggled with since I started college. I am trying to get back on track with my daily schedule and hoping this will help me with sticking to them.

Looking back at February:
Life
- Get down to 151lbs
   - Didn't get there. 
- Write a minimum of 4 non-photo blog posts 
     - With this post I have met this goal. One of my posts was about the first part of my honeymoon. I    
       have been trying to write this post since July. It feel good to get it done. 
- Read Proverbs
   - I am still working on this. There are 30 chapters and I have read 14. 
- Read 30 chapters from Psalms
   - I read 14. I plan on getting caught up on these readings this month.

Professional
- Get my photo blog up and running
   - This was an exciting step toward a future goal. When I get more done on it I will post the link.
- Do research on portfolio's
   - I think this will be an on-going research item as I grow my business.
- Write up a generic cover letter
   - It still needs a few improvements and I am thinking that a generic cover letter cannot be written. 
- Make a list of companies to apply to
   - This is something I am still putting off. I seem to have a fear of looking for a big kid job. 

Fitness
- Get my run's up to an hour 
     - My longest run was 40 minutes and most of that was actually walked. Between the weather and 
       my favorite trail being closed due to mud I did not get out as much as I would have liked to. 
- Go on a 10 mile bike ride
   - Wind oh the wind. It has been so windy (90 mph at the high end) that the thought of even biking 
     around town has gone from my thoughts. Next month. 
- Go on 4 hikes and make sure one of them is with Jason
   - I made it on 3 on my own. We were going to go on a hike yesterday, but decided that we wanted   
     to visit some family instead. 

30 By 30
- Buy my camera and necessary accessories
  - I BOUGHT MY CAMERA!!!!! I still need to hit purchase on amazon for my accessories. 
- Sell my car
   - We are going to wait until March or April to sell my car. 
- Read Pride and Prejudice
  - School got in the way so I did not get much reading done outside of textbooks. 
- Continue to challenge myself to be better skier
   - I have been a rockstar at challenging myself. Last year I would have avoided most blacks and  
     tree runs. In February I went down blacks, through trees, and made an attempt at the Christmas 
     Tree's in Steamboat. 
- Determine what company I want to volunteer for
    - I have decided to volunteer for The Women's Wilderness Institute. When I was in 7th grade my 
     dad signed me up for their rock climbing class and it has since been a never to forget memory. I 
     have always wanted to do something with this group again and I think this is my chance.  
- Find a race that I want to volunteer for and apply
   - I want to volunteer for the Mt. Evans Hill Climb. I still need to talk to Jason about it and put in 
     my application.


Looking forward to March:

Life
- Get down to 151lbs
- Write a minimum of 4 non-photo blog posts 
- Read the books of Proverbs and John
- Read to chapter 45 in the Book of Psalms
- Listen to my gut instincts 

Professional
- Make a list of companies to apply to
- Buy a domain name
- Take pictures for a landscapes portfolio

Fitness
- Get my run's up to an hour  
- Go on a 10 mile bike ride
- Go on 4 hikes and make sure one of them is with Jason

30 By 30
- Sell my car
- Read Pride and Prejudice
- Continue to challenge myself to be better skier and finish the season out strong
- Apply to volunteer for the Mt. Evans Hill Climb