When speaking of Boulder, my dad would describe it this way,

“They say it takes all kinds to make the world go ’round. I say there are all kinds and they are all in Boulder.”

He also said we had the world’s best hardware store - McGuckin Hardware. This is really the store where if they don’t have it, you don’t need it. A trip to McGuckin’s was always one of the highlights of his visits. Its kind of like Disneyland for certain kinds of people (of which there are some in Boulder).

But back to Boulder. Dad was not the only one who thought Boulder is different. Another well known description is this,

“Boulder is 20 square miles surrounded by reality.”

I asked some students what they thought of Boulder and they said this question summed it up best (not necessarily asked on Halloween),

“Is that Halloween or is that Boulder?”

So we can have some confusion at times.

Boulder is the only place I’ve been where a homeless man didn’t just ask me for a ride - he just opened the car door and got in and then asked for a ride (in the spring, not a freezing cold winter day). I guess every car is a free taxi ride in Boulder if you can get in before it gets locked.

A few other tidbits from campus:

If its not made from hemp, why wear it?

They have classes here!?! I’m just here to ski/party/hike/ride trails. (the same person can’t say this more than two semesters however)

And then our most recent issue. CU has a new president, Bruce Benson, and we had a bit of an uproar over his being the finalist to be voted on by Regents. First of all, how shameful it was that they only voted on one person. This was an outrage! And on top of that he was in the oil and gas industry and made money (a good bit of which went to CU and helped get a building with his name on it). Outrage!! And to top it all off he doesn’t have an upper level degree! Unbelievable!!! (to be fair, our students had a few other complaints with more substance and well taken, but the above were the loudest and most fun to blog)

Well, despite all these outrages, he was confirmed as president by a 6-3 vote of the Regents (6 Republicans for, 3 Democrats against). We’ll have to watch and see if CU can survive (and see how the more substantive complaints play out).

Anyway, in honor of my father and his perspective, I wanted to give you a brief look at our fair city.