I moved to Boulder 10 years ago. In September 2000, I put some CDs (gross, I know), shirts, pants and some Lucky Strikes* (gross, I know) in a single backpack and hopped a Greyhound from Dallas to Denver (gross, I know) before hitting Boulder an hour later. And I never left.

Here are the highlights and lowlights from a decade of life in the Boulder Bubble:

Highlights

• Seeing Wesley Willis live at Tulagi before he passed away and the venue itself shut down.
• Earning a degree in journalism from CU Boulder without punching a poli-sci major in the throat.
• Singing and playing guitar before sold-out crowds at the Boulder Theater and Chautauqua Auditorium.

Lowlights

• Getting stranded in Gunbarrel during the blizzard of 2006.
• Watching some of my favorite spots disappear (Masa Grill, Tom's Tavern, Penny Lane).
• Working as a waiter for a day at the Ramada Inn, getting yelled at by a customer re: his toast and quitting on the spot.

I love this town because it carved a small hollow in its heart for me when I needed it more than anything. Saccharine!

 *I quit smoking the first year I was here.