Work(s) in Progress

Icarus Rising

Why did Icarus need to fall? I remember translating (from the Latin) the myth of Icarus in Ovid’s Metamorphoses as a young girl.  

It seemed natural and obvious that Icarus should fall. What hubris! How dare he try to fly so high?

And yet, I also grew up hearing the tales of Horatio Alger  (myths even) that suggested that with hard work, strong ethics and perseverance a person could overcome their humble beginnings and become more, succeed based on their own merits. It’s pretty much the American Dream that "life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement regardless of social class or circumstances of birth."

And at least here in the US, we seem almost compelled to root for the underdog wanting him/her/them to overcome their preconceived disadvantage. See e.g. this article. 

However, we want those less fortunate to succeed, but not too much. Some call this Tall Poppy Syndrome which is mostly "used in the UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and other Anglosphere nations to describe a social phenomenon in which people of genuine merit are resented, attacked, cut down, or criticized because their talents or achievements elevate them above or distinguish them from their peers.”

We’re rooting for you, until we hate you, and start wanting you to fail or fall.

I took a visionary leadership class in business school taught by a wonderful professor, Edward O’Connor.  We built our own personal 5-year plans based on our values, purpose, vision. I blogged my project and experience in his class.

While this was years ago, I still remember that one of his values was excellence, and he really did not care about the time/effort needed to produce excellent work, only the beauty of it. At the time I struggled with HIS value. I remember being one of those students in grade school, high school, who could produce relatively (compared to my peers) outstanding work with minimal effort. Indeed, I skipped second grade & senior year of high school. And yet, I always felt terrible out-performing some of my classmates who I knew worked so much harder than I had, who in my mind, deserved a better grade given the effort they had put in.

Even then I wanted to soar, but not too much, not too easily.

Screw that.

I started a company last week, Icarus Rising LLC. I chose the name, for all of these reasons, more than two years ago, but was contractually barred in Florida from starting a business while working for my last employer. The company has now been registered with the Colorado Secretary of State, and has secured its unique Federal Tax ID number.

When I left Tallahassee, my assistant gave me an inspiring handwritten note on a card which stated  "leap and the net will appear." I keep it on my dresser so I see it every day.

FLY. WIN. SOAR. EXCEL.

I still have many details of this new company to sort out, but the purpose is clear!

Choices, Chances, Changes

A few months ago, someone important to me sent me a quote without comment: “There are three C’s in life: CHOICES, CHANCES, & CHANGES. You must make a choice to take a chance or your life will never change.”

I promptly printed this out and hung in on my refrigerator near a postcard from a friend of mine (Greg Giesen) who runs a leadership program (leading from within; next session Sept 12-14) that asks simply “Are you showing up in life as the person you most want to be?”

The last two months have been a blur.

• After 18 months in Tallahassee, FL. I quit my job.
• I spent a few weeks in Thailand doing the REI Thailand Multisport Adventure. More about Thailand below.
• I have moved back to Denver, CO and am now actively job hunting.

Thailand was awesome. I participated in both the Northern (Chiang Mai – 8 people, 2/3 guides) and Southern (Phuket – 4 people, 1 guide) portions of the trip. We hiked, biked, kayaked, rode elephants, zip-lined (added on at our request), had a cooking class, watched a live Muay Thai boxing event (again added at our request), toured numerous caves, Buddhist temples and other historically important locations.

The Northern journey included some singular experiences like having a village dog companion that routinely accompanies tour groups on a 2 day 20 km journey through the jungle and finds his way home again solo.

I ate my body weight in delicious Thai food and exotic fruits. I’m personally addicted to Longan. I think I ate hundreds of these. I love the feel in my mouth. The flavor/texture is similar to Lychee.  We also enjoyed Rambutan, passion fruit, dragon fruit, pomelo (hurrah to the people who peeled it for us), papaya, Thai pineapple, wild bananas, etc.

One hour of Thai Massage or Thai foot massage is available everywhere and cheaper than a beer. Seriously.

I have been asked whether I would recommend an REI trip like this. Absolutely. If you are visiting a place where you do not know the language or customs, the guides contracted by REI can be invaluable. I am certain that our group saw places that are rarely accessed by foreigners. REI also does a good job of accurately describing the fitness level needed (activity level) as well as the nature of the accommodations (rustic, hotel, camping, “primitive”, etc.) so that your expectations can be managed accordingly. In general, the accommodations were perhaps less rustic than described. For example, a hot shower, a western toilet or electricity might show up in a place where it was not advertised to be. And, especially on the Northern portion, our guides were incredibly sensitive and reactive to our fitness levels. Apparently they added to the biking for us (versus the last 3 years of travelers) because we were fit enough and added on an afternoon of zip-lining (Zipline Chiang Mai – this place was amazing – 27 platforms  with world class staff) and an evening at a Thai boxing match at our request. And, our head guide, “Mr. Pan”, made sure to personally escort us to the airport and our connecting flights on our final day, even though it was his day off.

Photo of our guide Mr. Pan about to teach a cooking class to the group at the Eco Lodge. 

The Northern portion of the trip was 5-star; awesome; worth every dime; met or exceeded any expectation I had, even though it rained every day and this part of the trip could be called “10 ways to get muddy and scraped up in Thailand.” I expected to hate (or perhaps endure) it but loved every minute except for about 20 minutes of crazy technical mountain bike riding through a muddy corn field on the narrowest single track I’ve ever ridden.

Thailand is a beautiful country (hundreds of photos here) with wonderful people. I could not take enough pictures.  

The Southern portion which I expected to love (sunny days, boating, snorkeling, beaches, kayaking) was OK. And 90% of this was the guide or should I say my lack of appreciation for our Southern guide. He was late to collect us from the airport and unapologetic about this. Indeed, several odd roadside detours and stops were made taking us from the airport to our hotel. This experience set the tone for all else that followed. Sunsets were missed; restaurant reservations were not made; itineraries changed hourly and the “staff” members were treated more like slaves than partners or employees in our adventure. I realize this is my American value system and bias coloring my experience but I felt very uncomfortable that the hired help would literally wait to obey. For example, they would be instructed to prepare/deliver coffee or breakfast but would not also deliver cups or plates or silverware until or unless the head guide would OK such behavior. So we as “guests” could watch our food get cold as we waited for our guide who was often on a smoke break to remember to complete his instructions. After our experience in Chiang Mai, which was amazing, in some ways this part just sucked, at least for me. The sights near Phuket were incredible.

In terms of geographic and tidal knowledge, our guide did take us to some hidden gems – lagoons, caves, vistas – where our tiny group was completely alone compared to some areas with hundreds of tourists vying for a single location/cave/beach but this did not make up for (at least to me) his abysmal treatment of his employees. I’ve seen dogs treated better. These men literally would not eat until he gave a command that it was allowed.

And perhaps some of my lack of appreciation for the Southern portion of the trip was my getting sick. I spent my last day in Thailand in a Phuket hospital getting an appendicitis ruled out. The Phuket hospital was a 5-star resort experience. The hospital was clean, modern, efficient and smelled great. Escorts were provided between each doctor. They were extremely courteous even though I was dirty from two days of camping/ocean activity, still in my bathing suit, and somewhat disoriented from dehydration. The doctor there sent me home with 4 drugs, a CD containing the ultrasound images of my abdomen in case my symptoms got worse traveling home, and a hospital card to speed re-admission inside Thailand if needed. The whole process took less than 2 hours and cost a whopping $165 US without any special travel insurance. As much as I was underwhelmed by my Southern tour guide, his boss escorted me to the hospital and back to my hotel. Thank you. Perhaps not surprisingly, I was grilled on my experience with this guide and learned that hospital visits such as mine were not uncommon for his tours with many tourists admitted for multiple days.  I’ll blame my sickness, but I did not express my true feelings to the guide’s boss during this inquisition. But I will say, that my REI assigned roommate and I said daily to each other on the Southern portion “I miss Pan.” (our Nothern guide)

Some obvious differences between Northern and Southern Thailand include: dogs (north) vs. cats (south); Buddhist (north) vs. Muslim (south); Jungle (north) vs. Beach (south). Your mileage may vary but I loved the North.

I had two 6 to 8 hour layovers in Bangkok. I wish I had more time. I spent both layovers grabbing a nap and a shower at the Mariya Boutique Residence at Suvarnabhumi Airport -for about $30 to $40 US this hotel is maybe 10 minutes from the airport; free shuttle; free internet; the hotel is clean; has hot showers, western facilities; free coffee. What more do you need?

I am hooked on travel bloggers such as Nomadic Matt. I want to see more.

A few years ago my amazing virtual friend Mel (from the UK) and her partner Mark visited me in CO (photo from the Rock Bottom Brewery).

Mel died suddenly and unexpectedly on July 14, 2012. She was not yet 40. I will miss her and her words. I am so glad that she and Mark got to tour the globe for a year, rather than making it something that they would do eventually, before her passing. I am so glad that I got to meet her in person. I am sorry that I did not get to see her again. 

Choices, chances, changes…what are yours?

90 days

What would you do with 90 days?

I am 30+ days into a 90 day "transition" out of my current job. I can remember like it was yesterday my disappointment in thinking that I would not get this job, my dream job, back in 2007. A little time and luck turned things around. I can still remember the excitement of the first week in January of 2008 when everything was new (and apologies, recent domain changes mean all of the links in that old posts will be broken). The best way that I found to describe my job was "I help people make their dreams come true." Best job ever. I am going to miss it.

Just 10 days before I learned that my situation would change I gave this interview on our local news channel related to our annual business plan competition. More info here. 10 days after this moment I learned that my job title/duties would be restructured. I was offered the opportunity to retain a different job but did not feel that I would be the best person for that new position. Some people have told me that I should have accepted the offer in these perilous economic times, that A JOB is better than NO JOB, even if it is a job for which one is not enthusiastic or qualified and that I should have begun job hunting while I was allegedly working at the new job. And there is a part of me that really wishes I could have taken their advice. It would have been the safe thing to do. But at the end of the day, in all things, I am either all in or not at all. When I commit to a job, it's 24/7. I did not feel that I could give that level of commitment to the new position. 

And so, a 90 day transition plan was negotiated. So far, I have applied for 14 jobs. I was rejected for 2 of them (ouch but I'm glad they were quick about it); 2 were retracted (i.e. the companies decided not to fill the positions); and, I withdrew my application from 1 of them (decided I would not give it my all). Just waiting on the rest knowing that long waits are not good things. 

And suddenly 30 days have passed. Poof. Only 60 days left before things get interesting. And I am pondering how I've spent the last 30 days and how I should spend the next 60. I spent a week with an uncle with end stage renal disease, diabetes, etc. He was in the hospital and it was time well spent. The mother and nephew of someone important to me was in town for the last month and I spent a lot of time with them. Again, time well spent. But I am still thinking about the impact and legacy I want to have. ALL.OF.THE.TIME. 

And yet, it's so easy for me to get distracted and for the hours to pass quickly. I recently discovered ReGenenis on Hulu. I watched 6 episodes back to back. I will likely never watch CSI again. While the lab techniques are primitive, the science discussed is rock solid, likely because they recruited great scientific consultants for the show. While ReGenesis has been off air for a few years, I am loving the hubris, the flawed personalities, the total commitment to the work, the agony and ecstasy of the discovery, the sleepless nights, the dreams of research, the desire to make a difference, etc. 

I've been closing out an NIH funded research project for the last few years. We are finally almost out of grant dollars. I have very mixed emotions about this. I love watching the scientific drama unfold on TV but the reality of most discovery research is much slower with the potential for a much smaller impact. I want to support discovery research but I don't necessarily want to do it anymore. I prefer discoveries that are in transition to commercialization. Mine was not. I've been working in laboratories since 1985. 25 years. More than half my life. The funding should run out just about when my 90 day transition ends. Yikes. 

So many endings coming soon. So much change. I have never had a "break" this long and don't expect to have one again. I like to be busy, to add value, to make a difference. There are only 60 days left. How should I best spend this time? Travel? Spanish Immersion Course? Volunteer? Learn to Surf? 

Leading from Within

About a month ago I spent 3 days at the magnificent (Orvis recommended) North Fork Ranch in Shawnee Colorado. While it’s only about an hour from Denver, it feels inaccessible, as in there is no ATT cell service there. I was blackberry silent for 3 days although the lodge did have wireless internet in some areas. Karen her husband Dean are amazing hosts. Some from the trip are still talking about the food. The accommodations were great too. I had a private room, suite really, with King sized bed, sitting area, and walk in rain shower with heated tile floors in my bath. The location was breathtakingly beautiful.  

 

Going to a functioning Dude Ranch had never been on my "to do" list but in many ways it was just what I needed. I was there for a 3 day program called “Leading from Within” taught by Greg Giesen  & Steve Sorenson. A colleague had introduced me to Steve who’d invited me to sign up for the program. While Steve had attended the program in the past, this was the first time he’d been one of the facilitators. Most of the leadership training I’ve done in the past has either been predominantly skill based (e.g. HERS Denver Institute for women in Higher Ed Administration) or goal/vision/purpose based (e.g “Visionary Leadership” as taught by Ed O’Connor  at the Business School at UC Denver). This was different, and I knew it would be going in. We only had 8 people in our group which made for a very intimate & safe environment. Historically, Greg had been keeping these small by design. I can’t write many specifics because we all promised to keep each other’s secrets, and it’s a proprietary program and one of Greg & Steve’s businesses so…if you want more detail, sign up! 

My friend Luis writes often about “fast trust.”  Greg really has this mastered. How do you create trust in a group of strangers (or even harder, in a group of coworkers, some perhaps with adversarial or supervisory roles) in the first hour or two of meeting so that meaningful conversation and self work can begin? And perhaps more importantly, create a change that endures past the 3 day retreat so that people do not regret what they’ve shared once they’ve left the safe environment. At its most fundamental, Leading from Within, is structured around the premise that you cannot lead others effectively until you are completely certain that you know who you are. And that being your authentic self, all of the time, is the most effective and powerful place from which to lead. 

We did some mundane things to poke at our values and life purpose. We probed those barriers, insecurities and anchors that hold us back from our potential (Greg has another name for these and a way to release them). We shared our biggest fears, our most embarrassing moments, and our greatest hopes. And at least for me, all of those things were the easy part. I’ve done many of these exercises in some form before. I’m pretty clear on my strengths and weaknesses. I’m largely comfortable in my own skin. I know where most of my major issues are and how they get in my way and under what circumstances. And then we wrote our own eulogies with the choice of today or some future day but we had to write them as someone in our lives (not as ourselves), and I broke, a little; OK I broke lots. I am still looking for the pieces to put back together.

For some in our group the other exercises were the big challenges and this one was easy. For me, even one month later, I still do not want to examine it too closely. There be dragons. Unresolved. Not quite ready for the light of day. If the metaphorical bus runs me over tomorrow, what will be my legacy? Will anyone know me well enough to speak a eulogy that represents me truly? Why have I allowed so few to know me fully? In the perhaps half of my life that remains how can I do more, be more, have more impact? And while I’ve blogged about them, how many who count me among their friends really grok  my core values and life purpose and know how fundamental it is to me. 

For some this was so easy. They were incredibly certain in their roles as sons/daughters of god, as parents, as children, as spouses, as business people. I envy them. All.

And that perhaps is the secret of the Leading from Within 3 day retreat. One exercise may bring one person to their knees while the rest of the participants remained unfazed. But after 3 days, there will be at least one that will cut to the core. It’s not comfortable, and I don’t recommend doing it often, but every year or two, these things should be poked at. How big are your dragons getting? How can you shrink them? I am pondering mine. 

I’m thinking about impact and openness. ALL.OF.THE.TIME. I want to do more, be more, make more. But how? Where?

We’re hosting Greg & Steve (picture below is Greg, me, Steve) for a brief seminar on June 22 from 5:30 to 6:30 PM at the Bard Center. Let me know if you’d like a taste of what they offer. Else catch them in July in San Diego at the  Destiny Now event  or register for their next  Leading from Within workshop in September in Colorado. 

 

Pondering Strengths

Clay posted a link to a test to determine Character Strengths. Like Clay, I registered on the website to take the test. 240 questions later, I learned my top strengths, in this order are:

1. Honesty, authenticity, and genuineness: You are an honest person, not only by speaking the truth but by living your life in a genuine and authentic way. You are down to earth and without pretense; you are a "real" person.
2. Industry, diligence, and perseverance: You work hard to finish what you start. No matter the project, you "get it out the door" in timely fashion. You do not get distracted when you work, and you take satisfaction in completing tasks.
3. Judgment, critical thinking, and open-mindedness: Thinking things through and examining them from all sides are important aspects of who you are. You do not jump to conclusions, and you rely only on solid evidence to make your decisions. You are able to change your mind.
4. Creativity, ingenuity, and originality: Thinking of new ways to do things is a crucial part of who you are. You are never content with doing something the conventional way if a better way is possible.
5. Curiosity and interest in the world: You are curious about everything. You are always asking questions, and you find all subjects and topics fascinating. You like exploration and discovery

I can't really say that I'm surprised by any of these, although I was somewhat surprised that some of the other characteristics were not dominant to these.

These are the remaining 19 strengths listed from strongest to weakest for me, after the top 5 above. I knew from the questions that spirituality would be dead last (as it is), but it was surprising to me that love of learning did not make it to the top 5.

1. Love of learning
2. Perspective (wisdom)
3. Bravery and valor
4. Caution, prudence, and discretion
5. Hope, optimism, and future-mindedness
6. Self-control and self-regulation
7. Zest, enthusiasm, and energy
8. Gratitude
9. Fairness, equity, and justice
10. Kindness and generosity 
11. Social intelligence 
12. Modesty and humility
13. Citizenship, teamwork, and loyalty
14. Leadership
15. Humor and playfulness
16. Capacity to love and be loved
17. Forgiveness and mercy
18. Appreciation of beauty and excellence
19. Spirituality, sense of purpose, and faith

Find yours. 

A Little Lasik

I had Lasik done this morning at Spivack Lasik. The doctor and clinic were recommended to me by many including my assistant at work. Of course, once my assistant saw the appointment on my calendar, she asked only "what time and where am I picking you up?" Thank you BP.

I had two complete complementary pre-op visits to ensure that I'd be an OK candidate. Even this morning they retested my ability to make sufficient tears as dry eyes are not compatible with great Lasik outcomes. My eyes are still dry even though I take Flax Oil daily - I never had this issue before I started using contact lenses - and the doctor inserted collagen plugs into my tear ducts earlier this week. I'm not sure why doctors (especially my gynecologist) always want to give the play by play..."I am about to touch you now..." but really, stop already, and just do whatever, especially if a foreign object is going where it was not meant to go. Just do it; I really don't want the second by second description.

So for about 15 minutes at the clinic today I'd worried that I'd paid for the surgery and stressed over it  but would not in fact be getting the Lasik done today or ever. Ultimately I was led back to the surgery waiting area - imagine dimmed lights and a ring of lazy boy chairs with people with hair nets, sterile booties and closed eyes. Oh, and hot blankets. There is nothing like a hot blanket while waiting for an unpleasant experience. About 20 minutes prior you have the option to take an Ativan (say yes) before surgery. I had valium in a IV push when my wisdom teeth were taken out.  Ativan was not as potent as valium in dissociating the experience or memory but did help to diminish my anxiety in the moment and had the advantage that I fundamentally still felt like myself.

So Lasik takes maybe 10 minutes, tops.  I was laid flat and still had my warm blanket. I was then offered a stuffed animal. My side of the conversation conveyed that um, I didn't even like dolls as a kid. The nurse conveyed that some folks find it helps, "here" she said as she shoved a stuffed puppy under the blanket with me.  While there is an eyes held open aspect that reminded me too much of A Clockwork Orange (warning image is disturbing), it was over quickly. And the doctor used his hands to hold my head/chin as much as possible. There are two laser zapping sessions per eye: flap creation & correction. And two sessions of the doctor moving the flap - away & back. Zap zap zap OK; forceps near eye.....yiiiieeee! And yes, the dumb stuffed dog under the covers with me was held very tightly. Feel free to send stuffed animals for Christmas, apparently I have a fondness...

Slept for 4 hours post surgery as recommended. Lots of eye drops required over the next 2 weeks, steroids, antibiotics, artificial tears, and even cyclosporin (and why cyclosporin helps tear formation I have NO idea...for organ transplantation I get it, daily on my eyes because they are dry, huh? but OK I will do, for months apparently). And I can now see leaves on trees again. Less than 12 hours post-op and my vision is better, much better. I am hopeful!

And while the surgeon won't be at my 24 hour post-op appointment in the AM, he called me earlier this evening to see if I was OK, or had questions or concerns. Nice touch Dr. Spivack. And apparently, so long as I get a complete annual eye exam, my surgery has a lifetime warranty. Cool.

Short Takes

I think twitter and text messaging are training me to think and communicate in short bursts of thought.

I recently heard a DC journalist say that if you couldn't capture the audience with your story or message in 25 words they would just tune out. I'm not sure what that says about our nation's ability to maintain a meaningful dialog on complex topics.

I'm looking forward to Clay Lowe's book - A thousand bullets gone astray when I can get it in the USA.

I'm wondering when we begin to associate connotations with the images with see. My life was fairly uncensored as a child. And while I now view many images or situations as having a moral (good/bad) connotation, I know that early on that all images were neutral in my brain. Sunny day = Pithed Frog = Crucified Man = Sleeping Puppies. I don't know whether this is because I saw A Clockwork Orange when I was six or whether I was just a late bloomer in terms of developing empathy.

I was supposed to attend the annual GCEC (global consortium of entrepreneurship centers) meeting at Rice. The meeting program looked amazing. I had everything lined up. I'd even pre-printed my boarding pass for my flight. And then I drove myself to the Emergency Room at 2:30AM when I got slammed by the flu. Since I had an annual flu shot, it was perhaps H1N1. My local ER was no longer testing as the test results had no bearing on treatment - (just not cost effective). I'm not sure how this impacts the H1N1 maps you can find online. In my case 4 days of fever, mostly GI symptoms, 2 bags of IV saline and various medications. During the worst of it, I think I slept 36 hours during a 48 hour period. Not fun.

Today is the one year anniversary of the judge signing my divorce decree. It is also the one year anniversary of getting my tubes tied. Two major life changes in one day. No regrets.

Next week, I'm having Lasik  done. My heart is racing just thinking about it. It took me years to even work up the courage to switch from glasses to contact lenses. I did my evaluation visit yesterday (at Spivack) to see if I was a good candidate. Aside from dry eyes (it is Colorado), everything looks good. They have patient "counselors" who help with scheduling, financing and also hand-holding as I heard the doctor tell my counselor in a hushed voice "she is very frightened" as in "hold her hand but close the deal." There are two doctors at this office who do the Lasik surgeries. One is substantially cheaper. I understand wanting generic or discount on prescription drugs or routine doctor visits but on EYE SURGERY?! Give me the rockstar please.

I went to Get Motivated! again this year as I did in 2006. Unlike 2006, I did not attend the entire event. My assistant and I heard Robert Schuller, Laura Bush, Colin Powell (why I bought tickets), Phil Town (I love Rule #1), and Tamara Lowe (one of the founders of Get Motivated). While I remembered that the 2006 event had a "God Bless America" theme and "seemed to use some cult-like techniques to capture the audience" I did not remember all of the "take Jesus as your savior" rhetoric that occurred this year and caused me to leave.

Tamara Lowe has now written a book, Get Motivated!: Overcome Any Obstacle, Achieve Any Goal, and Accelerate Your Success with Motivational DNA, the focus of which she presented. It seemed like a useful tool for determining how to best motivate yourself and others. However, her presentation then veered into the surreal starting with a religious rap. To best share the experience, I will quote a review from Amazon.com " I was then teletransported to another dimension and I'm suddenly at a Christian Convention. A big old Jesus-fest. To the point that she asks us (if we want to to be anything in this world and not go to hell thereafter) to each silently affirm that we each need Jesus in our hearts and need to reconnect with our love for Him. Huh? I check my ticket and it is still proclaiming to be a business seminar. I look at my employee, who is Jewish, and she is staring painstakingly at the floor. I mouth, "I'm SO Sorry" and she gives me an uncomfortable nod. It made me pretty angry that at a business seminar with nationally acclaimed speakers, she would be so presumptive as to assume that the 10,000 people in the room not only agree with her beliefs, but cares what she thinks on the topic. It was a total insult to the professionals who follow other faiths or belief systems and mind their own business about it. No wonder half the world thinks we're arrogant and disrespectful of their religious beliefs." Yeah. What S/he said.

In spite of this, Laura Bush was charming, someone with whom you'd want to have tea or a glass of wine; Colin Powell was as inspiring as I'd remembered; and, I will most likely buy Phil Town's new book which is coming out in March 2010: Payback Time: Eight Steps to Outsmarting the System That Failed You and Getting Your Investments Back on Track.

I'm finally planning my trip to Hawaii. Smiling just thinking about it.

 

Learning some HTML

I finally claimed (acquired) my personal domain name http://www.catherinekunst.com and of course my personal domain branded email address (catherine-AT-catherinekunst.com). There is nothing there yet as I'm still actively reading tutorials on HTML and CSS style sheets. So far, I'm very impressed with the guides available on HTML dog. My goal is to at least get a placeholder up this weekend that is not built on a free or commercial template and is not created with anything other than notepad and a WYSIWYG viewer - and yes I had to google that to even discover what one was.

I registered my domain on FatCow.com because they were currently listed as the best host on hosting review and as a reminder to keep my fitness goals in mind! Moo. So of course I also just downloaded (and started this AM) Turbulence Training Hotzone (not sure how long this link will stay active or free...so get it now). Day 1 workout was definitely fun.

I am not yet certain what I want to put on a static website, but advice and suggestions (especially for tutorials and free tools) are most certainly welcome.

Coming up for air

I never thought the day would come that I felt like I was too busy to blog. I am not exactly certain what happened.

Fitness: I am holding steady at 13x and 23 to 24% (Omron) body fat. My most recent 3 mile run, at sea level, was done in 27 minutes, pretty much my fastest run ever. I can still run a 10K in about an hour. None of this is bad for a geeky 41 year old but I can do better.

Dating: I'd previously tried two free online dating sites (date hookup and plenty of fish) and went silent after my less than optimal experiences. In late spring, I decided to rework my profile, being very clear about what I was looking for, and put it back out there. I met the person who caused me to delete all of my online profiles on fitness singles (a paid site). I was completely and utterly swept off of my feet on May 16; hmm, last post occurring on May 12, could be related. We've been traveling a bit, check my flickr account for the sites we have seen in Carmel, Monterey, Big Sur, Bryce Canyon & Zion National Park.

Random: I keep getting invited to participate in things for which I cannot seem to say no: One last scientific review panel (autoimmune) for DOD; co-chairing a sub-committee on small business development and higher education for the economic development council of the Downtown Denver Partnership; co-chairing a sub-committee on Enterprise programs at the Business School for our annual strategic planning event; co-authoring what may be one of my last pure scientific research papers on work I started back in 2000; continuing on as a scientific collaborator for just a “few” more months; a strategic planning session for my friend's latest non-profit venture (Dani's foundation); and ironically, a few months back I sat on a panel for women in higher education administration about “Making Institutional Service part of YOUR Plan, or How to Say NO and When to Say YES.” I'm not so great at the NO.

Work: On top of those things for which I can't say no, work has been busy. We received 76 entries from across Colorado for our 8th Annual Business Plan Competition. We awarded our winners with a variety of cash and in-kind services from local businesses:

Olomomo Nut Company    1st Place $12,000

The Organic Dish    2nd Place $5,000

VibraLung, Inc.    3rd Place $2,500; Bioscience Award (Fitzsimons Redevelopment Authority& We Work for Health) $5,000; Bioscience Award (CoreLogic) $1,000

Also Energy  Finalist $1,000

Global CaféNation  Finalist $1,000; International Award (CIBER & the Institute for International Business) $1,000; Non-Profit Award (The Ward Family) $1,000

Western States Biopharmaceuticals  Finalist $1,000

Larry Nelson of w3w3.com took many terrific pictures at the awards luncheon for our competition. You can view them here (registration required).

Our finalists received a lot of press:

• Healthy Ideas Under One Roof

• Two Boulder Companies win

• Best of the Bard Center

• Nut Company Wins

• DU students take on the world

The Bard Center and our 2009 business plan winner(s) were also featured on KMGH-TV (ABC) channel 7 news. You can watch the segment here: Small businesses finding room to grow

We're already thinking about our 9th Annual Competition on June 10, 2010.

The founders of the Bard Center, Pamela & Richard Bard, recently co-produced a movie, Homecoming, starring Misha Barton & Jessica Stroup. There was a limited release in Denver at the Starz Film Center on the Auraria campus. I was honored to be able to attend opening night with the producers.

On August 1, Jung Park of Metroboom, the 2004 Business Plan Competition Winner, is hosted his annual Enthuse event, a unique social networking event incorporating fashion, music, dance, fine cuisine, & fundraising. I keep trying to get all of my advisory council members (well at least the men) to become customers. I love his custom shirts & suits.

We renovated our Center to better segregate our academic program from our incubator offices. Our renovated incubator spaceat the Bard Center has only 1 vacant office (320H). Our incubator is open to all early stage Colorado companies. Contact me if you are interested.

Our Bard Entrepreneurship Network (BEN) Meetups have grown up: cocktails & content. Join us August 26 at Elevated Third from 6 to 8PM. This month, Justin Perkins the CEO of Olomomo Nut Company & our 2009 Business Plan competition winner will be there to answer questions & let folks taste his products. Jim Kirchheimer, the Director for Economic Development for the Downtown Denver Partnership (DDP) will be there to talk about the benefits of membership and the resources available at the DDP. RSVP: http://www.meetup.com/Bard-Entrepreneurship-Network-Meetup/

I'm always on the lookout for other opportunities for entrepreneurs in our community.

• Need $100,000 to start your company? The nationally run MillerCoors Urban Entrepreneurship Series is open to 21 to 35 year olds. http://millercoorsmues.com/

• My friend Stephen Miller launched a new clean tech incubator and is helping to bring the Clean Tech Open to Colorado. He gotten some great press: Local Clean Tech Incubator opensmore information at www.cleanlaunch.com

• Finally, biotech companies should consider attending or Consider presenting your company at the 1st Annual Rocky Mountain Life Science Investor Conference

Our business school orientation is going virtual. We’ve recorded a segment promoting the Bard Center which can be previewed below.

It's been a busy summer...

Traveling Companion Needed

I went to the movie Yes Man at Christmas with friends. I do not normally go to movies of this kind, but I enjoyed it and think of it still. I find myself saying "yes" more often to things I intended to do eventually. I'm just doing them sooner. It's all part of my quest for Bliss and my realization that there is only now.

My friend Martha is always the executive director of some health related non-profit. This year it's Dani's Foundation which focuses on Ewing's Sarcoma.

Dani's Foundation recently held a fund raising dinner (video here) with several hundred silent auction items. I started the bidding on four items and 'won' two of them, both on my "to do eventually" list: 1 week at a bed and breakfast in Hawaiiand 3 nights in Napa Valley at the Meritage Resort- complete with airfare, limo tour, and wine train tour.  Side note: it's really a sign of our economy when the opening bid on items such as these are the winners.While there are some blackout dates, I essentially have until March 2010 to go on these journeys. People ask me when I'm going. I am not yet sure. I need to line up a traveling companion. While I can easily chill in Hawaii by myself for a week, I definitely want a wine loving traveling companion for Napa Valley. Let me know if you are interested...

For my birthday I finally got the Kindle 2. I'm currently reading Outlierson it, another book by Malcolm Gladwell. Like one of his prior books, Blink, I am utterly enjoying this book. I cannot overstate how much I am enjoying my Kindle: it's smaller than a trade paperback and with its Leather Cover is much, much sexier.

I did not achieve the 6-pack abs I wanted for my birthday. I have been working out regularly - 5 or 6 times a week. However, for every 350 calories I've been burning off per workout, I've probably been eating an extra 600 or so. So, yes, I'm stronger and faster but also heavier. Oops. For the most part, my clothes are still fitting but I'm up a few pounds that need to be shed to see the muscle underneath. I currently belong to two athletic clubs. I really need to decide which one to stick with going forward.

While I have not been writing much on-line (my offline writing is going strong), this has been an amazingly good month. My friend who had the stroke last fall, is now almost fully recovered and back at work.  To quote a physician friend of mine "Cathy I don't believe in miracles, but A's recovery is a true miracle." Indeed. I went to her welcome back party earlier this month. I've never seen so many delighted people at a work event such as this.

Work has been insanely busy, but in a great way. We opened our annual business plan competition to the entire state of Colorado, not just our University family. So far, we're getting terrific interest from the community. We've been filming our orientation sessions (feel free to watch the first one). If you are a local reader and know someone who is starting a company, please have him or her contact me. Executive summaries are due April 16th so it's not too late to participate. We award more than $100,000 in cash and in-kind awards to the winners. The CEO of one of our incubator companies has been working with me on my presentation skills. He used to do corporate training for public speaking among other things. Since I open each session, I will soon have ample video footage for him to review and critique. This is not exactly fun, but will eventually make me better.