Denver so far

Day one in Denver and we haven’t done much so far. Actually its like day 1/4, so really there hasn’t been much time to take it all in. Went to downtown Denver for the first time last night for dinner.

I don’t know. I like a clean city, but it reminded me of Downtown Disney. Very, very clean with those funky sidewalks that look like cobblestones but aren’t as inconvenient for the walking. Everything seemed overly funky, very hip and with it and maybe its just that I’m not, but it seemed contrived. Kind of like a pair of shoes that are just a little too white. I appreciate a revitalization of downtowns, but a what point does revitalization just become sameness?

It reminded me of what Fargo/Moorhead are trying to do, which I do appreciate, don’t get me wrong, but its luxury condos and high-rises and shops and chain restaurants. It just seems a little sterile. First impression–may refine later.

We drove by the house where theyre filming the latest season of the Real World. It looked like a Real World house. Maybe a little more unassuming than I expected, but I’m sure its completely tricked out on the inside. I saw a camera man talking to a cop, so I guess I’ll have to watch to see what that was all about.

I guess I worry that travel is going to become boring for me because places keep looking the same. Maybe its because I’m contemplating moving here and I don’t immediately love it. Maybe I’m not going to love any place I move to immediately, but have to grow to love it–like broccoli. I really, really love broccoli.

Knees

Yet another incident in my bizarre relationship with my father. The man just keeps shocking me. He called me up this morning and left a message that sounded full of purpose, so I called him back when I got up a couple hours later.

He is running the Walt Disney World Marathon in January. That’s not a surprise, he’s been talking about it for quite a while and he’s very excited. Now he has decided that he wants me to run the 1/2 marathon, and he’ll pay for it. He will fly me down to Florida, pay for the hotel, and pay the registration fee. We didn’t discuss whether or not he’ll feed me, but I feel like I can work something out.

This is unusual. I knew this whole me running thing would make him happy, but I never thought it would allow me to travel. I admit I’m intrigued.

Then he went on about my training and my knees. Apparently I have my father’s knees. This is fine, he’s been running marathons for 20 years and never had knee trouble, that’s a good thing. I keep telling him that, yes, my knees do hurt sometimes. This information generally gets ignored because it’s not what he wants to hear. He keeps describing my knees as “Big Knees” Just like his. Always “Big knees.” It’s unnerving when someone points out that a part of you is unnaturally large when you never noticed before. I’m not entirely convinced that my knees are that big.

I have to think about this for a week before he’ll let me make my decision, which is actually perfect because by then I should be able to gauge what’s going on with my ankle after my unfortunate plummet down the stairs. Thank god my knees are enormous, maybe they can compensate for my ankle.