http://denver.yourhub.comThe latest blog posts in The Denver Newspaper Agency YourHub.comen-usnews@yourhub.com(c) 2009, YourHub.com5I called the trash company this morning. The conversation went like this: Me (hopefully): So, you won't be coming today, right? Employee (cheerfully): Oh no, ma'am, we're running on schedule. Me: You know that means I have to drag out my trash? And it's recycle day and I have yet to invest ...http://denver.yourhub.com/LoneTree/Blogs/Your-Voice/Blog~678853.aspx10/29/2009 10:05:29 AMKarin Malchow I called the trash company this morning. The conversation went like this: Me (hopefully): So, you won't be coming today, right? Employee (cheerfully): Oh no, ma'am, we're running on schedule. Me: You know that means I have to drag out my trash? And it's recycle day and I have yet to inv...http://denver.yourhub.com/Denver/Blogs/Your-Voice/Blog~678848.aspx10/29/2009 9:40:19 AMKarin Malchow Dear Vista Homeowners' Association: Enclosed is my Homeowners' Association fee, late as usual, which should come as no surprise. I puzzle over many suburban traditions, harboring mixed feelings about Homeowners' Associations. First and foremost, they provide neighbors a few officials to complai...http://denver.yourhub.com/LoneTree/Blogs/Archive/Blog~618125.aspx5/21/2009 1:20:39 PMKarin Malchow A few days ago I was painting my son's room Luxurious Blue and decided to play CNN in the background. After ending my brief career as an Examiner columnist, I imposed a temporary news blackout, having exhausted myself reading news constantly looking for material. News became an information onion...http://denver.yourhub.com/LoneTree/Blogs/Archive/Blog~568535.aspx1/15/2009 8:08:33 AMKarin Malchow Through misty snow falling, I detected a motorcyclist ahead of my car stopped at the next traffic signal. Waiting behind him, my son and I watched his head and shoulders jerk rhythmically. "Listening to an iPod," I said. My son, never one to congratulate me on my amazing perceptual powers, esp...http://denver.yourhub.com/LoneTree/Blogs/Archive/Blog~563963.aspx1/3/2009 12:07:45 PMKarin Malchow Anger is my least favorite emotion. In a college dream analysis class, Professor Call-Me-Fred said my nocturnal imagery indicated anger suppression. Maybe he said "misdirected anger." Whatever it was, it made me mad. I don't know why I refuse to own anger until it owns me. Maybe it's a Midweste...http://denver.yourhub.com/LoneTree/Blogs/Archive/Blog~555562.aspx12/4/2008 10:01:16 PMKarin Malchow Oh, I hear you asking: how do the words "effective" and "time-wasting" possibly go together? It's simple! What's the only downside to time-wasting other than not getting things done? GUILT. Erase the guilt and start enjoying the time you waste! How, you ask? Well, let me tell you. After years...http://denver.yourhub.com/LoneTree/Blogs/Archive/Blog~536599.aspx10/17/2008 2:23:20 PMKarin Malchow Before everyone in airports became suspects, people used to regularly ask me to watch their stuff. I only resented possession-watching when imagining the long-absent owner having another cocktail at my bladder's expense. Sometimes I wondered: What valuable objects reside inside that everyone ...http://denver.yourhub.com/LoneTree/Blogs/Archive/Blog~533781.aspx10/12/2008 11:25:18 AMKarin Malchow Best Example of No Matter How Hard You Try, Stuff Happens With thousands of people exiting the Pepsi Center on foot on Day 3, a huge, squished rat was in the middle of Auraria Parkway. Worst Example of Staged Drama Hillary's entrance on the floor during roll call, after New Mexico yie...http://denver.yourhub.com/LoneTree/Blogs/Archive/Blog~514085.aspx8/28/2008 12:53:21 AMKarin Malchow Either the protestor presence is underwhelming or I'm always in the wrong place at the wrong time. I went down to the first march starting at Civic Center Park on Day One; a ragtag band headed down the street in clumps, including the guys in Photo 1. Since the police were hanging out in the shad...http://denver.yourhub.com/LoneTree/Blogs/Archive/Blog~513892.aspx8/27/2008 2:50:56 PMKarin Malchow Riding home from the Denver National Convention on the light rail August 26 kind of felt like sitting around a campfire listening to someone with a flashlight under his chin; combining politics and sleep deprivation makes everything seem shadowy. The Hillary Fest at the Pepsi Center went well e...http://denver.yourhub.com/LoneTree/Blogs/Archive/Blog~513644.aspx8/27/2008 7:45:47 AMKarin Malchow Heading to Civic Center Park this afternoon to see lifeless protest puppets (having regrettably missed the show), I was just about to leave when the next speaker was announced: Darryl Hannah . So I caught a shot of her before I left like the rest of the sparse crowd. The organizer half-joking...http://denver.yourhub.com/LoneTree/Blogs/Archive/Blog~513506.aspx8/26/2008 4:19:49 PMKarin Malchow The first person I ran into this morning at the Convention Center was the last delegate I saw on the light rail ride home last night. I've had it in my head to interview the American Samoan delegation, even making a few inquiries, because 1) I think people largely ignore the Samoan political an...http://denver.yourhub.com/LoneTree/Blogs/Archive/Blog~513323.aspx8/26/2008 12:35:03 PMKarin Malchow Covering a big event is like going to Disney World - security checks, walking, waiting in lines and crowds - except there aren't any rides. Bring glasses cleaner. Don't wear pants that chafe. Wear industrial strength deodorant. The "Have Regular People Give Speeches" strategy doesn't work i...http://denver.yourhub.com/LoneTree/Blogs/Archive/Blog~513089.aspx8/25/2008 11:52:22 PMKarin Malchow I'm continuing to follow unusually large groups of people to see what they're doing. It's the herd instinct. A gathering of red shirts on the street caught my eye. Convention volunteers are color coded, but I hadn't paid much attention to who was who. Obviously, Green marks the Recycle voluntee...http://denver.yourhub.com/LoneTree/Blogs/Archive/Blog~512826.aspx8/25/2008 1:54:36 PMKarin Malchow Walking down the 16 th Street mall, I saw a crowd and thought, "What compels people to go to Hard Rock Cafe in every city they visit?" Then I saw a camera taping an interview with the guy in Picture No. 1. Once I missed a Muhammad Ali photo op in a Las Vegas casino because I figured people we...http://denver.yourhub.com/LoneTree/Blogs/Archive/Blog~512814.aspx8/25/2008 1:26:52 PMKarin Malchow I know the "what the heck am I doing" stuff is going to get old fast, but let me get my Democratic National Convention legs. Somehow I ended up at the morning press briefing. I did my best to avoid it while searching for somewhere to plug in my laptop, but kept getting directed there and didn't...http://denver.yourhub.com/LoneTree/Blogs/Archive/Blog~512730.aspx8/25/2008 10:56:01 AMKarin Malchow I didn't realize attending the Democratic National Convention press party at Elitch's involved private subparties, which didn't seem all that democratic to me. I suppose these thoughts happen when standing on the other side of the fence or red velvet rope. That's the trouble with equating democr...http://denver.yourhub.com/LoneTree/Blogs/Archive/Blog~512451.aspx8/24/2008 3:23:54 PMKarin Malchow Blogger Nikki Britain and I couldn't find a trash can when we first entered the August 24th Democratic National Convention Press Party at Elitch Gardens. We just didn't know refuse bins were provided temporary housing. Each trash tent even had a volunteer trash consultant advising you which ...http://denver.yourhub.com/LoneTree/Blogs/Archive/Blog~512358.aspx8/24/2008 10:12:53 AMKarin Malchow Yesterday my son received the writing prompt "A picture tells a thousand words." He responded by taking a photograph of himself burning the assignment, writing 999 words describing what led to the incendiary act, including excoriations of artifice, pretentious performance art, and his mother's c...http://denver.yourhub.com/LoneTree/Blogs/Archive/Blog~507903.aspx8/14/2008 9:13:05 AMKarin Malchow Parents often worry about a suggestible child adopting the wrong friends, magnifying less attractive adolescent qualities through peer pressure; descending into apathy, hostility, drug abuse, truancy, and excessive junk food consumption. They neglect considering their child may fall in with the ...http://denver.yourhub.com/LoneTree/Blogs/Archive/Blog~498076.aspx7/21/2008 10:26:48 AMKarin Malchow Whether it's prices, lines, or just needing to be somewhere else, people often seem unhappy in the grocery store. While reading tabloid headlines, I sometimes amuse myself creating a convivial moment among incongruous people unloading carts onto a belt mysteriously streaked with fluid hopefully ...http://denver.yourhub.com/LoneTree/Blogs/Archive/Blog~494289.aspx7/10/2008 12:07:18 PMKarin Malchow In a waiting area, a woman approached the front desk speaking in low tones, instinctively making me want to listen. While I've heard whispering is a more effective attention-drawing device than shouting (especially while parenting, though in the heat of the moment I rarely think to try), I still...http://denver.yourhub.com/LoneTree/Blogs/Archive/Blog~481160.aspx6/8/2008 12:55:41 PMKarin Malchow In 1985, my dad visited our Las Vegas home while traveling on business. He animatedly told the story of his plane trip, which included numerous cocktails; a phenomenon not uncommon on Vegas-bound flights. Return flights are typically quieter. He informed us refreshments were free of charge, cou...http://denver.yourhub.com/LoneTree/Blogs/Archive/Blog~479273.aspx6/3/2008 8:56:12 PMKarin Malchow No, this isn't about the last Blogger Beer Night. (Or, in my case, Blogger Three Martini and Nightcap Night.) What happens in Denver stays in Denver. One of my sons bears genetic similarities to a sponge. I'm not referring to financial soaking; he's not a significant drain during our summer tui...http://denver.yourhub.com/LoneTree/Blogs/Archive/Blog~473150.aspx5/21/2008 10:43:43 AMKarin Malchow Recent Conversation: Mom: How'd you do in the Guitar Hero competition? Child: Eliminated in the first round. I shouldn't have entered. Mom: You shouldn't have told everyone you'd kick their butts. Child: The guitar is different than Rock Band, I'd never played the song, and the kid I was aga...http://denver.yourhub.com/LoneTree/Blogs/Archive/Blog~463488.aspx4/29/2008 11:58:47 AMKarin Malchow Titled for a long-time friend/practitioner, the Judy Rule is Ghandi-esque in its wisdom and simplicity. You may already follow it without knowing its true name. Talk to everyone you know about a seemingly insurmountable problem, and someone, offering a fresh perspective, will set you on the pa...http://denver.yourhub.com/LoneTree/Blogs/Archive/Blog~460957.aspx4/24/2008 11:43:31 AMKarin Malchow Tax season is when accountants you know are always too busy to talk, but everybody else starts talking like an accountant. Discussing one's tax situation is much like recounting dreams: the experience is too personally specific to generate much outside interest. Still, the overwhelming aspect...http://denver.yourhub.com/LoneTree/Blogs/Archive/Blog~456000.aspx4/15/2008 9:50:38 AMKarin Malchow Our current marital conflict has to do with sharing the bed. My husband and I never disagreed on Family Bed contractual stipulations. 1. Nursing infants - always permitted, if anyone in the household intends getting sleep. 2. Toddlers -- limited access, allowable under the following: a. Th...http://denver.yourhub.com/LoneTree/Blogs/Archive/Blog~453994.aspx4/10/2008 12:33:13 PMKarin Malchow Obama's recent attempt identifying with Pennsylvania's working class through bowling scored 37 pins. Either he hasn't done much bowling or he was aiming for the gutter. At first I felt better after reading he only bowled seven frames, but then I got concerned. What kind of presidential candidate...http://denver.yourhub.com/LoneTree/Blogs/Archive/Blog~451519.aspx4/4/2008 11:20:27 AMKarin Malchow