It is legit nice out. We’re about to roll into the too hot part of the year, but we’re not there yet.
Friday night Chris and I walked home and then down to Las Margaritas for dinner on the patio. (Our server was delightful and the most concerned about making sure we had a vegetarian meal than probably anyone ever has been.)
Saturday morning I ran in Cheesman with some ladyfriends. (I was quite worried I wouldn’t be able to keep up with them, but I did and could even talk while running. Amazing.) Then met a friend for yoga, and after class we enjoyed a beer on the patio at Paris on the Platte. (We slathered up with sunscreen while sitting there. That’s Colorado for you.)
Saturday night we met some folks for happy hour on the patio at Amerigo. (Guys, this is the best restaurant in Denver. I really think there’s going to be a three month wait for a reservation by the end of the summer.)
Sunday morning Chris and I went to brunch at Solera, probably actually the most beautiful and delightful and charismatic patio in all of Denver. (And the brunch menu had a section under Drinks that was labeled “mornng wine.” And listed the same wines they serve for dinner. This tickled me greatly.)
And right now I’m sitting the backyard, having fallen down a hole reading reddit. (I’m a fairly new redditor and am a little obsessed.)
I’m kind of over it. I’m going to wrap myself in a duvet and hang out in the basement.
Occasionally it occurs to me that I didn’t do much sharing after my spark at ignite (way back in February). So here’s the recap. (ignite is an event where anyone can give a five minute speech, a “spark,”on any topic. You prepare 20 slides, and they auto-advance every 15 seconds.)
I feel like I should be more self deprecating but…too bad. I was really happy with how it turned out. I practiced, practiced, practiced and so even though I was nervous onstage, I had run through my talk so many times, I could have done it in my sleep. Like in my head in the moment, I was a little worried that the entire audience would be distracted by how much my knees were shaking, but in the video I look cool and confident and well practiced. Because I was. Funny that.
And you guys, my hair looks so good. Of all my takeaways, I’m seriously so pleased with how long any shiny my hair is in this video.
It was really nice having friends in the audience, I think there were about 300 people there total and I had about a dozen in my cheering section. I was the last speaker before intermission, so it was really fun to be able to finish and then go talk to my friends right away.
Buuut…awkward. Then everyone who came with me left at intermission. Leaving a big 12-person sized hole towards the front of the theater. At the time for some reason I found this embarrassing, but clearly it wasn’t the end of the world.
I had a blast, and I’d recommend it to anyone with the time and interest. It was harder than I thought to match a talk to the 15 second slides. I estimate I put in close to 20 hours writing my talk, putting together the slides, searching for free/uncopyrighted images to use, and of course practicing over and over. I had a few jokes that were timed to the change of a slide, and it took a lot of rehearsal to get those timings down just right.
My advice to anyone else planning to speak at an ignite event?
One, have a clear message. Twenty slides of memes might get you some laughs, but you still need some engaging content.
Two, practice 900 billion times, enough so if you get really nervous, your brain can go on auto-pilot and still finish.
Three, get (and use) feedback. We had a mandatory rehearsal a week before the event. Some of the speakers got feedback like, “I was confused about this part of your talk” and then…it was exactly the same in their actual spark.
Four, make sure you include your twitter handle somewhere in your deck so you can connect with people in the audience. And then shamelessly brag by posting screenshots of people complimenting you.
I also found it helpful to drink one beer before going on (and then several after) but to each her own.
The next one in Denver is June 13th. I will be there, enjoying being in the audience, but I’m definitely mulling over topics to maybe try again for the next one. How to ride your bike like a lady? Nine ways to wear yellow cardigans? Semi-colons are your friend; do not abuse them?
I did four triathlons in the summer of 2011 and another four over the summer of 2012. Each year in August I hit a wall where I was Done. Tired of training. Tired of passing on happy hours to go to the gym. Tired of getting up early on Saturdays to swim.
In the spring, it’s really tempting to sign up for races. Your have the year laid out at your feet and early bird pricing on registration fees. There are a half dozen races I’d love to do. And it’s a bummer not to be able to put anything on my calendar.
But yesterday was beautiful and warm. I was going to go for a run, but I emailed a friend instead and asked if we wanted to convene a meeting of the Ladies Walking Club. (Basically an hour or so of chatting plus four miles plus of walking.) Our walk quickly devolved into grabbing beers at the Denver Bicycle Cafe instead.
And I didn’t have to stress about missing a prescribed workout from my training plan or the fact that and I had not run one time this week.
I’m a little embarrassed by how little I’ve been exercising lately, but happier with how I’m spending my free time.
With everything going on in the world (and I don’t mean just in the past weeks), it may seem a little silly to mourn the loss of a favorite restaurant, but I am utterly dismayed to learn that Strings on 17th will be closing its doors next week after 27 years in business. It’s my favorite brunch spot, Chris and I both celebrated our 30th birthdays there, and it’s such a gem in the neighborhood. I just really, really loved this place.
I enjoyed their farewell email enough that I wanted to share it:
Our Thanks
To our customers:
You are our heart. We deeply love you. Thank you for so many wonderful years.
To our staff:
You have been the pulse. Such gratitude for anyone who has ever cleared a table, carried a tray, dished up some Bagutta, poured a drink and welcomed a guest. Without you, nothing would have been possible.
To our city:
Thank you for giving us a home. You supported us like no other. We will live on as a household name in memory only. But it was you that made it all possible.
To our state:
We apologize that Governors will have to find a new place to eat.
To our country:
As Noel used to say, “this is the greatest country in the world. So true. You gave an Irish immigrant the chance to be King of the World. We are forever in debt.
To our world:
We hope you think we left this place better than we found it.
I just came so close to getting hit by a car that I’m considering giving up bicycle commuting.
I am one of the safest cyclists I know. I wear bright colors. I ride with traffic. I signal. I always have my lights on. I wear a helmet. I respect traffic lights and signs. Even my commute is pretty safe, residential and then downtown. Lots of stop signs and stop lights, no stretches where anyone can really pick up much speed.
On my way home, just now, just 15 minutes ago, I approached an intersection with a two way stop. I had a stop sign, the driver across from me had a stop sign, and cross traffic didn’t have to stop. I checked for oncoming traffic from either direction, then proceeded to cross.
The driver, in a silver honda, looked left, looked right, and pulled out a little into the intersection. I stared into the windshield trying to make eye contact to make sure I was seen.
I watched the driver look left and right and left again, inching out the way you do in these residential neighborhoods when it’s a little hard to see past parked cars. But while looking right and left, the driver never looked straight ahead to see me, not fifteen feet from the front bumper.
I saw that moment of decision, that instance when you go from creeping out into the intersection to when you decide you’re clear to go, and I watched the bumper get closer to me, wondering in that instant if I’d be completely broadsided or if the car would just hit my back wheel. Calculating our speed, I thought to myself this is probably going to hurt a lot, but it’s very unlikely you will actually die.
My finger fumbled for my bell–it’s pretty loud–and in the meantime I let out the shrillest, loudest, longest scream of my life. I shrieked with every effort, I screeched like I was in a horror movie, hoping the driver would hear me and it would trigger a reflex to hit the brakes.
I veered to the right, and finally made eye contact with the driver, who seemed a little startled, and looked quizzically at me, but, having missed hitting me by just a few feet, continued down the road.
I vibrated with adrenaline and my legs felt noodley. I considered walking the few blocks home, but even though my legs were shaky, they still seemed to be able to pedal.
I got home and promptly poured myself a whiskey. Chris isn’t home to tell my story to, so I’m writing a blog post. My throat still hurts from screaming.
On Thursday someone asked me if I am a vegetarian, and she seemed a little surprised when I said yes. This happens to me from time to time.
And on the one hand, I’m always a little happy when that happens. Sometimes I get on a (tiny) soap box about eating meat. I mean, I don’t run around with pamphlets or anything, but if the topic comes up, I won’t shy away from sharing my thoughts on why it’s pretty gross.
I get the most riled up about chickens (they have the worst lives, get dipped in chlorine before you eat them, and are the most fleshy, you know? Like when you’re eating chicken, it feels the most like you’re eating a body part.) and about pigs (because they are so smart, eating a pig is like eating a dog. Sick.).
My point is that I worry about being a little off-putting, and so it makes me happy when someone I have known for a while doesn’t even know I’m a vegetarian, much less think I’m “militant” (hate that word) or evangelical about it.
But on the other hand, I want to be (a little) loud and proud. Being a vegetarian is empirically better than being an omnivore. And it’s so normal to me now, I sort of just assume people don’t eat meat until I see them doing otherwise, and then I’m a little surprised.
Blah blah blah. I think Daylight Saving Time is dumb. Primarily because I’m tired of listening to people say the same thing over an over about it. Oh you’re tired? Because you ‘lost’ an hour? But you like that it’s light later? Your phone updated itself? Do tell.
And consider this fair warning that if you tell me something is happening at 7 pm Mountain Standard Time this summer I’m going to squint at you real hard and ask if you live in Arizona.
Whoa. Sorry. I’m really grumpy right now. Possibly because after not going since January, I went to yoga yesterday and today and now it feels like my shoulders are going to fall off.
