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Humans have always had a complicated relationship with weather. Ancient cultures prayed and made offerings to gods in hopes of receiving conditions conducive to growing crops. Adverse weather, then, w…
Humans have always h…
Humans have always had a complicated relationship with weather. Ancient cultures prayed and made offerings to gods in hopes of receiving conditions conducive to growing crops. Adverse weather, then, was often interpreted as displeasure on behalf of those same beings—a punishment for failing to observe proper rituals. It doesn’t take a history scholar to understand this impulse. Weather, now as then, is both an enemy and ally. On one hand, it provides everything from the raw material for food—sunlight driving photosynthesis, wind the primary method of plants spreading their seeds—to …
Sometimes, writing about art and theater feels a lot like falling down the proverbial rabbit hole as I try to find the angle to write about wandering through a haunted-theater immersive experience, ge…
Sometimes, writing a…
Sometimes, writing about art and theater feels a lot like falling down the proverbial rabbit hole as I try to find the angle to write about wandering through a haunted-theater immersive experience, getting splashed in a Halloween horror show in the basement of a spaghetti emporium, sweating through a DIY D&D in a comic shop, savoring (har har!) Sweeney Todd’s enraged high notes, and trying to quiet my howling dog in a public house. I’ve found myself in some odd and awkward scenarios. To update the metaphor, writing this column is a lot like drunk-clicking through an endless algorithm o…
Jessie Hanson
January 8, 2020
“The Moab trip we went on for spring break was a great adventure. There were, around eight or so dudes who all went to Moab with no real purpose other that just to have an adventure. It ended up bei…
“The Moab trip we …
“The Moab trip we went on for spring break was a great adventure. There were, around eight or so dudes who all went to Moab with no real purpose other that just to have an adventure. It ended up being illegal backpacking way out into the Arches park and we managed not to get caught by rangers, and we didn't burn down the park. There was one moment where we found a lot of dry brush against a cliff face. There was this big rocky area and we made a big pile of brush and as soon as we lit it we realized that was a terrible idea. It turned into a fifteen foot fire, lit up the entire cliff face, s…
Mariah Murray
April 24, 2016
“Part of me does miss ballet. I think it’s really hard when you’re and athlete of any kind because there’s a really small time span and window that you can really be great and be successful be…
“Part of me does m…
“Part of me does miss ballet. I think it’s really hard when you’re and athlete of any kind because there’s a really small time span and window that you can really be great and be successful before your body just decides to shut down. So part of me, yes, misses the aspect of rehearsing and preforming and being on stage but the other part of me has kind of moved on from it and realized that there’s more to life than just the stage and preforming. I wasn't making money, is like the real thing, so yeah, it was hard. It’s a difficult transition going from something that you do every sin…
Mariah Murray
April 23, 2016
“I’ve failed many times. I’ve failed twice so far. We learn the most from failing is what it comes down to. I’ve failed a lot, but I’m proud of my failures. It means I won’t make the same …
“I’ve failed man…
“I’ve failed many times. I’ve failed twice so far. We learn the most from failing is what it comes down to. I’ve failed a lot, but I’m proud of my failures. It means I won’t make the same mistake again…Life deals you crap, often. I think what differentiates the successful, whether that’s happiness, wellbeing, etcetera, etcetera, is who are you when everything has gone to hell. That’s the true test of character. Who are you when you have nothing?” -Peter Calfee
Mariah Murray
April 22, 2016
“I’m not scared of Chip (CU’s mascot), he just makes me nervous when he wants to interact with me because I don’t know what to do. You can’t actually talk to him because he can’t talk back…
“I’m not scared …
“I’m not scared of Chip (CU’s mascot), he just makes me nervous when he wants to interact with me because I don’t know what to do. You can’t actually talk to him because he can’t talk back. I treat him like a pet, because that’s what you do with something that can’t talk back to you.” - Steffen Myers
Mariah Murray
April 17, 2016
“Last semester there was this guy that lived on our floor and he left his widow open when he went to go for a smoke. While he was gone a falcon flew into his room, I kid you not, a Peregrin Falcon. …
“Last semester the…
“Last semester there was this guy that lived on our floor and he left his widow open when he went to go for a smoke. While he was gone a falcon flew into his room, I kid you not, a Peregrin Falcon. So he comes back and he sits down on his bed and he hears the bird screech at him. So he starts screaming and yelling and I get really nervous like, “what’s going on, do I need to go help them?” So I open up my door and he and his friends, they run into my room as fast as they can and as they do that the falcon flies right over our heads. It was just loose on our floor and they had to trap i…
Mariah Murray
April 16, 2016
“My little boy, he’s two and a half, that’s really why I’m trying to get home. Otherwise I would stay here. I have my tent, I have everything I need, I would stay here, it’s no big deal. I…
“My little boy, he…
“My little boy, he’s two and a half, that’s really why I’m trying to get home. Otherwise I would stay here. I have my tent, I have everything I need, I would stay here, it’s no big deal. I’ve been fasting so I don’t even eat. His name is Augustine, he’s in Oklahoma…Since becoming a father it has helped me to connect with people and feel unconditional love for somebody, anybody, and in that way it kind of spreads to all people. It’s kind of why I’m not mad (being stranded in Boulder), because, you know, in a way we are all brothers and sisters, mother and fathers, and we…
Mariah Murray
April 15, 2016
“So many happy moments! I think one would be after I accepted Christ and fully gave my life to Him, is when I started experiencing way more joy. I was just kind of down in the dumps all the time bef…
“So many happy mom…
“So many happy moments! I think one would be after I accepted Christ and fully gave my life to Him, is when I started experiencing way more joy. I was just kind of down in the dumps all the time before that, not all the time, but it totally transformed my experience of life. I was just more free to be joyful and to also just be myself and to not have to put on any kind of show for anyone. So I was thinking about summer project (mission) and how that was kind of the first time when that really played itself out. I experienced community for the first time and just experienced the Lord’s love…
Mariah Murray
April 9, 2016
What have you learned while living in the US? “Oh, so many things. The most important thing that I enjoy is that I see the differences in culture between mine and the culture here and I am able t…
What have you learne…
What have you learned while living in the US? “Oh, so many things. The most important thing that I enjoy is that I see the differences in culture between mine and the culture here and I am able to kind of pick the parts that I like. You grow up doing something a certain way and then you see that there are many ways to do the same thing. You realize that there is no right and wrong. You can pretty much choose how you want to be. So yes, I guess living in another country helps you really find yourself and free yourself up from pre-conceptions you got growing up somewhere… What I’ve lear…
Mariah Murray
April 3, 2016
“From being a story teller I’ve learned a lot about communication and about different cultures. I’m always interested in how you find elements of a story in different cultures…It teaches you l…
“From being a stor…
“From being a story teller I’ve learned a lot about communication and about different cultures. I’m always interested in how you find elements of a story in different cultures…It teaches you lessons. It teaches you things about people and about nature and then about a way of life that isn't around anymore, like through the living history you learn about people and about their loves and their accomplishments… I like stories. It takes you away from yourself and from the present day and to a world. I have always had a rather fanciful imagination and it just allows you to explore that an…
Mariah Murray
April 2, 2016
“I know how to turn away from the wrong crowd. When I had to leave my church, it was a Pentecostal church, and I left one night and they had weapons in the church and everything. They were going to …
“I know how to tur…
“I know how to turn away from the wrong crowd. When I had to leave my church, it was a Pentecostal church, and I left one night and they had weapons in the church and everything. They were going to try and hurt me. I left right on time. I got in the car, me and my dog, and we took off. They were a cult. I could feel the pressure of their pressure system, so I just took off…We never went back to those people again. It taught me to find the right group of people to be with.” -Lisa Powers
Mariah Murray
April 1, 2016
“The thing that is frustrating as a teacher is this constant state of flux with philosophies that come and go with maybe administration in your building or maybe the school board philosophy. And eve…
“The thing that is…
“The thing that is frustrating as a teacher is this constant state of flux with philosophies that come and go with maybe administration in your building or maybe the school board philosophy. And everybody has this secret recipe for how to be successful and how to get these kids to do better. I don’t think there is one, I think you just got to work. So some of that frustration is like, you just get used to a system and then boom it changes again. I think we have a lot of great teachers there and all students have the opportunity to learn, they just have to take advantage of the opportunity…
Mariah Murray
March 27, 2016
“My personal experience in Boulder has probably gotten better because more of my friends have moved here and I have developed a large network of friends. So I would say that’s my dominant experien…
“My personal exper…
“My personal experience in Boulder has probably gotten better because more of my friends have moved here and I have developed a large network of friends. So I would say that’s my dominant experience of Boulder, is my friendships…I think I will continue to live in Boulder, I’ll probably die here. This is by far the place where I have the closest friends.”- Patrick Lynn (Patrick has lived in Boulder since 1987)
Mariah Murray
March 26, 2016
“My parents got a divorce when I was six, so I grew up mostly just with my brother and I, and we would change houses every week. Which was sort of hard I think, but it also allowed my brother and I …
“My parents got a …
“My parents got a divorce when I was six, so I grew up mostly just with my brother and I, and we would change houses every week. Which was sort of hard I think, but it also allowed my brother and I to get really close. I feel like he raised me in a lot of ways… I call my brother, “Brother”, because I did that as a kid. (lots of laughing) I didn’t like calling him Nicholas or Nick, and it just stuck. I love it, I still can’t call him Nick, I try sometimes and it feels weird. People think that it’s just the weirdest thing, his friends will make fun of him and start calling him “F…
Mariah Murray
March 25, 2016
"I do white tail deer hunting…I do bow hunting, no shot gun, nothing like that. It's more of a challenge. Instead of shooting a deer from 300 yards away I'm shooting one from 30 yards away…When I …
"I do white tail dee…
"I do white tail deer hunting…I do bow hunting, no shot gun, nothing like that. It's more of a challenge. Instead of shooting a deer from 300 yards away I'm shooting one from 30 yards away…When I was a little kid my grandpa gave me a shot gun, you know, the whole nine yards. I kind of went on my own, now one else in my family is really into that, so I kind of just learned from that and decided that bow hunting was more of a challenge. My family is very competitive, so the more competitive it is the more I want to do it."- Jordan Champion
Mariah Murray
March 19, 2016
"I graduate college in may… I definitely want to live abroad at some point, that's my ultimate goal. So I think right now what I am trying to look for, as far as jobs, is maybe find an international…
"I graduate college …
"I graduate college in may… I definitely want to live abroad at some point, that's my ultimate goal. So I think right now what I am trying to look for, as far as jobs, is maybe find an international company thats headquartered over there, but they have branches here. Start here and then eventually work my way up to abroad… I am excited to start a new chapter, to be honest with you. I feel like at 30 you're at that age where you have a little bit of wisdom in you now, and the whole traveling thing has opened my eyes a whole lot as well. So I'm just ready to start something new." -Macar…
Mariah Murray
March 18, 2016
“I am a professor at a college, I teach chemistry…I am doing research, we are doing mainly polymers. Those polymers can have connecting properties so that’s what we are looking at…We are makin…
“I am a professor …
“I am a professor at a college, I teach chemistry…I am doing research, we are doing mainly polymers. Those polymers can have connecting properties so that’s what we are looking at…We are making long chain polymers…because polymers are everywhere, we need polymers… To discover something new is always very exciting. I think that chemistry is everywhere. It is a basic science, a fundamental science. Whatever you want to do, you want to be an engineer? You need chemistry. You want to be a medical doctor? You need chemistry. It's very exciting.”- Hememt Sharma
Mariah Murray
March 13, 2016
“I want to spend as much time as possible living in foreign countries. That has been the best and most amazing thing I have done in my life so far…That’s what my goal really is, to see as much a…
“I want to spend a…
“I want to spend as much time as possible living in foreign countries. That has been the best and most amazing thing I have done in my life so far…That’s what my goal really is, to see as much as possible. It saddens me how we have this one beautiful sphere of life in a vast ocean of nothingness. We are on a rock spinning around a ball of fire and we can’t appreciate that enough to not kill our planet. But I am hopeful; I think there is a lot of good stuff happening.” -Patrick Glynn
Mariah Murray
March 12, 2016
“I was a teacher and the human condition was something that I have been enamored with. That is really why I liked teaching, is working with the kids, their hearts…I am an experiential facilitator.…
“I was a teacher a…
“I was a teacher and the human condition was something that I have been enamored with. That is really why I liked teaching, is working with the kids, their hearts…I am an experiential facilitator. I work with groups that have an intentional goal to become more aware of some aspect of their groupness… I teach what I must learn, therefore the things that I work on with other people are the things that I am also learning myself. It is really all one in the same. Where does one start and one end? I really have no idea.”- Tiffany Higgins
Mariah Murray
March 11, 2016
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