Ef Rodriguez performs at Ignite Boulder 6. (photo/Andrew Hyde)
“Hipsters generally seem to lack passion,” he explained. “It’s this overriding malaise. They get excited about things, but they just as quickly seem to drop them.”
I thought about it for a second, acknowledging the various hipsters I know and considering my life recently. “I generally seem to lack passion these days,” I finally replied.
“Maybe you’re a hipster, then,” he chided me playfully.
—
For the week prior to Ignite Boulder 6, I pondered whether or not to go. Sure, it would be entertaining and I’d be supporting friends and seeing people I’d hadn’t seen for quite some time, but I still feel pangs of anger and resentment that my previous topic had been shanghaied from Ignite Boulder 5.
On Monday, it dawned on me that it wasn’t Ignite or the people involved I was angry with. I was angry with myself.
Originally published at Worldwide Ace. You can comment here or there.
Tonight marks Ignite Boulder V, an event so enormously popular that they’ve moved to the Boulder Theater and begun charging for tickets. Despite purchasing my ticket well in advance, I’m not attending in protest to the way in which my presentation was treated.
Several weeks ago, when submission and voting began, I was confident I would end up having enough of the popular vote to present. I began growing a thick beard and Jew fro to coincide with my presentation and even ordered a Hasidim-style wide-brimmed hat. My excitement was palpable.
Countdown, Ignition, Failure…
Not two weeks ago, as I crawled into bed after getting a speeding ticket, exhausted from an early morning, a long day, and unfortunate turn of events, I received a text from Andrew Hyde, the primary organizer of Ignite Boulder. Voting had closed and, despite finishing somewhere in the top 10 (I had been 5th or 6th when I had checked earlier in the day), I was disqualified. Andrew cited 3 reasons:
- 50% of my votes came from the same IP address.
- I had 19 votes for inappropriate content.
- I was the only presentation to be marked inappropriate.
Originally published at Worldwide Ace. You can comment here or there.
The first week of July boasts a bevy of excellent events. On July 3rd, Wilco plays Red Rocks. On the Fourth of July, I barbecue and release my CD Exchange album. And, perhaps most importantly, on July 2nd, Ignite Boulder 5 comes live to a venue near me.
By the end of Ignite 4, I knew I would be prepping for another ignite presentation, but something a little less frivolous than preparing for the Zombie Apocalypse. The plan is to present on circumcision and the various myths and truths about the practice. It’s certainly not the first time I’ve delved into this topic, but I hope to cover a lot of ground in a mere 5 minutes while getting a few laughs in the process.
Earlier this week, the inimitable Andrew Hyde opened up submission for topics. Of course, voting is still in preliminary stages, but I’m sitting solidly in 3rd as of this posting. Still any and all support would be appreciated.
To vote for “Just the Tip”, click here.
To see all the voting, click here.
I also highly recommend putting in a good word for Devin Nordson’s fascinating topic on why the environment is a socialist. There are a few other gems in the bunch, but I’ll let you try and pick them out.
Originally published at Worldwide Ace. You can comment here or there.
The Sunday New York Times never fails to deliver fascinating writing. Rather than an in depth article on the latest outbreak of war or an insider’s guide to to the latest trend, the most interesting piece of the April 5, 2009 edition was the two paragraph conclusion tucked at the tail of A.O. Scott’s “In Praise of the American Short Story.”
Scott reviews three biographies of well-known writers of the early 20th century known more for their short prose than their novels. Despite not seeming his original intention of the piece, Scott used the opportunity to tuck his own hopes that new media might be a boon to literature instead of the detriment is so seemingly is:
The new, post-print literary media are certainly amenable to brevity. The blog post and the tweet may be ephemeral rather than lapidary, but the culture in which they thrive is fed by a craving for more narrative and a demand for pith. And just as the iPod has killed the album, so the Kindle might, in time, spur a revival of the short story. If you can buy a single song for a dollar, why wouldn’t you spend that much on a handy, compact package of character, incident and linguistic invention? Why wouldn’t you collect dozens, or hundreds, into a personal anthology, a playlist of humor, pathos, mystery and surprise?The death of the novel is yesterday’s news.
The death of print may be tomorrow’s headline. But the great American short story is still being written, and awaits its readers.
I’ve always felt that short stories are generally better written, more interesting and far more poignant than their longer brethren. This is why Ernest Hemingway will remain a great writer in my mind despite being one of the more terrible novelists I’ve read.
Originally published at Worldwide Ace. You can comment here or there.
It took me a while to catch that it was up, as I’ve been off cavorting for the last two weeks, but the awesome Craig Kendall posted the video of my Ignite Boulder presentation. The slides aren’t quite timed as well in the video as they were in real life (as they’re not live video) and the music at the beginning was not my doing, but it does a good enough job.
So if you missed the event and the live stream, or if you merely want to relive the mayhem, here it is:
Originally published at Worldwide Ace. You can comment here or there.
Performing is a little like masturbating in a porn theater and a little like a game of Russian Roulette: on the one hand, even if the crowd in the theater is pleased, you ultimately got yourself off. On the other, there’s always a chance you’re going to end up an accidental suicide. Either way, the wall’s getting splattered with something; you just never know if it’s your blood or your semen.
[ed. - I'm oddly disappointed that this mixed metaphor didn't include the phrase "shooting blanks" somewhere. And yes, I know it's a simile, so fuck off.]
I watched with trepidation as she clinically detached the microphone from the moustached man as if she were removing a parasite, her lithe fingers snagging it like forceps. In a moment, as soon as I finished daintily stepping down to the floor of the conference room, I’d be the next host for that symbiotic piece of equipment. I tried to wipe the sweat from my palms, my note cards still clutched in my left hand. Instantaneously, it was back.
Originally published at Worldwide Ace. You can comment here or there.
Some of you may remember my mentioning that I was doing a presentation at Ignite Boulder this month. Well that day is upon us!
Unfortunately, the event sold out in two days, so if you were hoping to make it, you’ve missed your window of opportunity. Luckily, the entire evening will be streamed LIVE on the Internet starting at 7:00 PM (9:00 PM EST).
If live streamed presentations about how you can ready yourself for the walking dead isn’t enough, there will be lots of interesting presentations on a variety of topics:
- A needle in a stack of needles or getting people to notice you
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The History of the Mustache (though it totally needs an O)
-
10 Design Predictions for 1909… or so I reckon
- The world is burning but I still have my yogurt
-
How to Sing Your Way out of Danger
-
Breasts and media’s obsession with them
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New Music Biz Model: What Would a Crack Dealer Do?
-
Awkward Rules - rules for awkward situations
If that’s not enough to entice you, well pooh to you! See you on the other side!
Originally published at Worldwide Ace. You can comment here or there.
It’s official. My presentation on Zombie Preparedness has been chosen for Ignite Boulder 3 on February 18th at the Atlas Building on the CU campus.
I have to admit I already have butterflies in my stomach (I have major stage fright).
If you’re interested in going, you can get tickets by clicking here. There’s an option to register for free, but spaces are limited. After that, it’s by donation (or you can choose to donate outright).
Originally published at Worldwide Ace. You can comment here or there.
When the relationship ended, all I could think about were the good traits. I’d wander around, searching for someone, something that could mimic those things that had kept us connected in a way that brought such joy and vision.
In a way, I knew my search was naive. I would never find another that would fulfill everything I wanted perfectly. It’s a pipe dream; a fantasy. But look I did.
Eventually, I gave up. I stopped thinking about what was over and done with and began planning my world tour. I wrapped up what I could and lost myself in the task at hand. But somewhere in my unconscious, I still had that desire.
When I returned from my trip, it was only a few weeks before that email from Megan appeared in my inbox. I was skeptical at first. I wasn’t about to delve deeply into what she was offering, not after how I was hurt the last time.
I tried to do my research and find out as much as I could. Nothing I discovered contradicted what she said.
I still had my reservations, but I gave it a shot anyway.
Originally published at Worldwide Ace. You can comment here or there.
“So how’s that going for you?” asks Thor. He’s not really focusing on me, but I don’t mind. I’d rather he pay attention to driving on this cold January night than look at me.
“There are issues. Every once in a while, I try to check in somewhere and it simply doesn’t work. The other day, I was at Cheba Hut and I got no response. Then I went to the barber shop and there was no response. After that, we hit Jo-Ann Fabrics and I got no response. How am I supposed to report on the cuteness of the staff—or lack thereof—if BriteKite won’t even recognize my check-ins?”
Thor’s phone doesn’t even accept text messages since he broke the screen. He told me he was aggravated about something and began to ring his phone like a wet rag, not realizing he had cracked the screen until he looked. Like a good Norse god, Thor’s humongous size means he often forgets his own strength.
“Can you rank places in BriteKite?”
“No. That would be cool if you could. Give five stars here, two stars there. Mostly I can just post pictures of what’s going on and leave little notes. If you visit the location on the site, it gives you a list of what people have said.”
“If I were going to get into the whole Twitter/BriteKite scene, I’d want to build a BriteKite app for iPhones,” Thor tells me.
Thor’s got skills. He’s been a creator since the dawn of time—or at least for as long as I’ve known him. It’s strange to see such a big man hunched over a tiny keyboard, delicately tapping away, but it’s his calling. It’s more profitable than being a professional lightning tosser these days.
Originally published at Worldwide Ace. You can comment here or there.
Given how much I enjoyed the last Ignite Boulder (after all, it is the event that got me onto Twitter), I’ve been thinking regularly about what I might do as a presentation if I got the chance. While many of the presentations were interesting, I felt they were also a little serious.
“I think it would be a lot of fun to present,” I said to Devin as we walked back to the car.
“Yeah, I suspect it’s more fun presenting than watching,” he replied.
“I can’t stop thinking about what I would do for a presentation,” I remarked to Jen as we drove to the Squirrel Nut Zippers show.
“I know! So many fun ideas.”
Today they announced Ignite Boulder 3 will be on February 18. I immediately asked Andrew, one of the men behind the events, how to apply and submitted my idea:
Originally published at Worldwide Ace. You can comment here or there.
The flashing neon reflects on the street as we pull up. It always does when it’s this cold and every crevice in the road is iced over. I have no worries about that, though. I’ve got media on my mind.
—
On Wednesday, I stumbled into a strange little event called Ignite Boulder, my never-worn pinstriped suit separating me from the crowd of stylish hipsters and styleless techies. I knew only three things about the event: it was supposed to be fun; it centered around slideshows in which the presenters had to keep up with the slides; and it was attached to that magical word that sets my Jew senses tingling: free.
The stench of thumb sweat and beer wafted through the heart of the Atlas building as geeks, nerds, and hipsters swigged free swag (thank god for corporate liquor sponsorships) and punched their iPhones and Blackberries into submission as a projector threw their tweets and photos across the white screen up front. “We are all cyborgs,” Amber Case would say later in the night, eliciting nods and chuckles from audience members attached even then to their portable internet.
Originally published at Worldwide Ace. You can comment here or there.
A few days ago it was Dixie’s birthday. I texted her (from my brand spanking new cell phone) and wished her a happy one, which made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. It was easy enough, taking not more than 10 minutes, and I’m sure it was a good thing to do.
And then it hit me. If it weren’t for Semagic, my LiveJournal client, I wouldn’t have remembered her birthday at all.
I’m terrible at remembering dates. In the last five years, I’ve finally narrowed my mom and sister’s birthday (they share a day) down from simply the month of January to an actual day. My father and I are both born on holidays, making that easy. Everyone else, I simply forget.
I don’t do it maliciously. Hell, in the last few years, I’ve reached an age where I’ve started forgetting how old I am. Sure, I’m within a year or two when I answer the question, but birthdays simply don’t have the same meaning they did when I was a child. There are no major changes year to year that require a birthday to measure. What grade I’m in lost all meaning mid way through college, as did maturity level, which most people should realize has nothing to do with age. These days how old I am only matters in regards to dating if it feels like I’m robbing cradles or taking advantage of AARP members, neither of which have happened to me. Even in medicine, it’s a reasonably arbitrary guideline through which to judge health.
Simply put, age is an unnecessary measurement at this point, and because of that, birthdays have become unnecessary as well.
Just because I feel this way, however, doesn’t mean everyone does. A lot of people value their birthday, spending it out drinking with friends or celebrating with loved ones. But among people my age, the new tradition is so minimal and lacking that it completely turns me off: the Facebook wall birthday.
I’ve never been a fan of social networking sites. Sure, I use IM and IRC and blogs and keep a website or two, but Facebook and MySpace and Friendster just don’t appeal to me. They lack the face to face contact that’s necessary to truly have a relationship with people. They’re great to keep in touch, but more and more social networking seems to be replacing actual contact. I know I’m not the only one who thinks that.
A few things I do like about Facebook, the lone social networking site I belong to (excluding blogs and forums, since I don’t consider them social networking), are the ease of getting updated contact info, the ease of sharing photos and links, and the birthday reminders. Being the forgetful ass that I am, having those there is invaluable for the people I care about. When I hop on to update my contact info or check up on a friend, there are the upcoming birthdays for the week. Given how often I’m on Facebook, that’s actually a rarity, but it’s nice that it’s there.
There is the dark side, however. Many seem to think that noticing this note and posting to a wall is a viable birthday memento. I do not.
Remember when your parents would tell you that it doesn’t matter the value of the gift, it’s the thought that counts? Well noticing a birthday and posting “HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!1!” to a wall is no thought at all. It’s a reminder. It’s a clinical and detached function of the digital age. At least taking the time to send a text or give a phone call or drop an email indicates that the person is worth more than 10 seconds of automated response. And even then, if I weren’t the forgetful last minute bastard that I am, I wouldn’t consider those worthwhile either.
Perhaps I’m a hypocrite. I absolutely despise the lack of effort required to show how much someone means to me, yet I take full advantage of it.
I guess the conclusion I should come to is that I need to do a better job of reminding my friends how much they mean to me. After all, even Facebook knows that’s what it’s all about in the end.
Originally published at Worldwide Ace. You can comment here or there.
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