being in colorado reminds me

driving into denver on interstate 70, one may notice a garish pink building hidden within a strip mall in the sprawling suburbs. casa bonita has a long-standing tradition of treating the children of colorado to many glorious birthday parties, replete with pinata punching, shoot-em-up shows, cliff jumpers, haunted caves, and a mariachi band. only...most kids don't go for their 16th birthday.

my friend jolene, however, did. unfortunately, we teenagers were not treated as was usual in earlier years. no longer were we allowed to take a stick to the pinata. i tried putting on a puppet show, but a worker pulled me out of the puppet house just as i was attracting a great audience of children. obviously, their parents were a bit confused when i was booted from the booth. the mariachi band didn't want me to sing with them on stage, and the cliff jumpers left me out of their show. i was sad: i was only trying to have a good time.

it was time to take matters into my own hands. after little deliberation, i brought the birthday crew behind the cliff's waterfall, making them watch my own diving extravaganza. i stripped off my shirt and shoes, looked each way, took a firm step onto the edge of the swinging bridge, and took a great dive.

then i ran. everyone else did too. however, my getaway was less stellar than i had intended. caught by casa bonita's own security force, I was handcufffed and lectured while standing in my tight wet jeans, shirtless and shoeless, "you're under arrest." i was banished from casa bonita forever.

$150 and a court appearance later, i was on my way to six months of good behavior. no more trasspassing. no more nothing. i suppose i should have learned a lesson like "don't jump of bridges that say 'no jumping.'" i won't do it again, i promise; it's already been done. i'm moving on...to bigger and better things.