Survived New Year's Eve Bomb And Lived To Blog About It

You could say that the New Year came in with a bang for me, literally. I suppose no matter what happens in 2009, good or bad, I should be thankful that I actually made it alive to see 2009! If I had known my New Year's holiday snowboard trip to Aspen was going to receive bomb threats, perhaps I would have taken the time to make a New Year’s resolution list. Of course the only item on that list would be - to make it out of 2008 alive. If I added anything else below that item, it would just seem rather superficial and meaningless. Really, what would be the point? One of my unspoken/unwritten New Year’s resolutions is to land myself a girlfriend. But if I were a cold stiff corpse, I would need to a girlfriend who is into necrophilia. And that’s just not very sexy, or legal. All of these bomb threats lately have me wondering though. Am I meant to die via a bomb? I have to say it’s rather odd that I seem to be constantly dodging them. Once in NYC, once in Regan National Airport, once in my office and now in Aspen. Umm, is there something God is trying to tell me? I don’t know, but I do know one thing, I’m glad the Aspen bomber killed himself before he killed anyone else. He’s a sick fuck. A crazy old man. A child’s sled full of bombs disguised as Christmas gifts! Who does that! A crazy fuck, that’s who. Apparently when the news broke, the story was all over CNN. So if you haven’t heard about it yet, here is a brief summary...

According to police, a man in Aspen, Colorado delivered bombs wrapped as Christmas presents to two banks on New Year’s Eve. Along with the bombs, there was a note threatening "mass death" if they did not turn over tens of thousands of dollars. The note read: "You had better be a very cool individual and not start a panic or many in Aspen will pay a horrible price in blood." Repeatedly using the word "we," as though a group of people were behind the plot, the obscenity-filled note described a bomb filled with "unique chemicals and electronics" and demanded that $60,000 in hundred-dollar bills be handed over in 20 minutes outside the bank. The note also refers to the Iraq war and describes President Bush as "Rove's and Chaney's [sic] monkey." It also goes on to state that "This is as much a suicide mission as a bank robbery." (Read the full letter here.)

Authorities were quickly alerted, and the man apparently halted his plan, leaving two bombs that were intended for other banks in an alley on a plastic sled. Authorities ordered the evacuation of a 16-block area of Aspen on New Year's Eve, one of the busiest nights of the year for the resort town, after the bombs were found. Bomb squads ultimately detonated the devices and no one was injured. The man, identified as James Blanning, age 72, had had previous run-ins with law enforcement. He was later found dead after apparently shooting himself. His body was found in his car in a rural area east of Aspen.

We weren’t allowed to return until 4am, well after the big New Year’s ball dropped. So instead of champagne toasts and midnight kisses, we brought in the New Year in a state of panic. Well, maybe not panic since we were out of harm’s way, but concern. Even though we had to forgo our fireworks display over the snow capped mountains that night, all the town festivities were rescheduled for the next day, including the fireworks. Actually it wasn’t that bad afterall. If nothing else, New Year’s Eve ’08 will definitely be a memorable one for me! So despite the "snow bomber" (as I’ve nicknamed him), I had a blast in Aspen – no pun intended. It’s ridiculously beautiful there, probably one of the most breathtaking places I’ve ever been. And as you can see from the small sampling of my photo gallery below, when I’m determined to have a good time, not even a bomb can ruin it for me.

Romantic and cozy, right? I think it would make a nice proposal spot.
They offer horse-drawn sleigh rides as well as the carriages.

Fireworks over Aspen Mountain on January 1, 2009.

Meet my shadow. I met this kid while snowboarding and we exchanged a little playful smack talk.
As you can see by the look upon his face, he can dish it out better than he can take it.

I will say this though, this latest bomb scare had me doing a little soul searching once I returned home. I hate the fact that it takes a death to snap some life back into me. I hate the fact that something tragic needs to occur before I realize how quickly it all can be taken away from me. And I hate the fact that I need to be rattled until not only do I finally recognize, but actually do something about all those things that should be said that never are. So I used this new "awakening" of mine to do just that. To say the things that needed to be said. I sat down and wrote a letter, a long one. One that I didn't think twice about proofreading. I focused not on my sentence structure and grammar, but on the words themselves. I just got it all out. I didn't think about what I said, I just said how I truly felt. All that junk inside of me that has been running thru my head for the past month, I let it flow. I wrote her a letter. And then I sent it, no longer hesitating if I should or shouldn't say something. I said what needed to be said. That night, for the first time in a long time, I finally slept a little more soundly.