Art Night

Aaron and I are going to the Denver Art Museum tonight for their last Friday of the month program. Tonight’s program is titled “Bound”. It looks at artistic constraints and will be produced in collaboration with Opera Colorado. I think this will be a fun event.

Kate McGuinness opened a new show at Spark last night. She’s hosting an artist reception tonight. Kate is one of my favorite local artists so I’d like to get by Spark to see her show too.

I also hope to get by Redline sometime this weekend to see the photography show.

I think it’s going to be a good weekend.

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The Mean Girls

Miss Z and Miss MBA are now known as the mean girls at work. They were up to their usual antics at the weekly review meeting today. I can’t help but wonder if they don’t realize how condescending and mean they can be to others. Their ire is usually directed at Miss G, who can be a little scatter brained, but is actually a very intelligent woman with heart of gold. The mean girls will give Miss G a set of instructions one week, but will change it the next week so it looks like Miss G doesn’t know what she is doing. I’ve seen this happen many times. Sometimes working in corporate America is just like being in high school.

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A Film Project

My cousin and her film producing partner have announced plans for their new documentary film about retired homicide detective who now heads a crime scene cleaning company. A web funding campaign has been started on Indiegogo. The film is being produced through Evolution LA. Check out the sizzle reel at the link below:

http://www.grimescenemovie.com/

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Off To A Bad Start

It’s Monday morning. I’ve only been working for an hour. I had to reboot my laptop out of the gate. The reboot took twenty minutes due to a new software download. I spent another ten minutes trying to log onto the VPN so I could access the programs I use every day. Now there’s an email and IM storm going on concerning one of my projects. There are so many messages flying back and forth I can’t keep up with them. This needs to stop. I suggested getting all parties on conference call to discuss the issues but it seems to have fallen on deaf ears. This is a crappy way to start the work week.

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Snowfall On New Construction

This is the new house under construction one street west of our house. The architect told us the project (scrape existing house, build new one) budget is $2.5m. A father is building the house for his son and daughter in law. This could be the fate of our house if we end up selling it.

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Spring In Denver

Eight inches so far with another four expected.

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Updates 3/22/2013

We’re expecting rain later today which will turn to snow overnight. The forecast calls for up to eight inches of snow on Saturday and up to four additional inches of snow on Sunday. We desperately need the moisture. We’re still having a drought. New water restrictions are being implement which will reduce lawn watering to two days a week.

Trish invited me to dinner at her house tonight. She’s been taking guided snow shoeing day trips for last few weeks. Last night she was describing the beautiful blue eyes of the guide who happens to be a physically fit man in his fifties. Trish went on and on about how nice he is. I have a feeling she’s got a crush on this guy and will end up sleeping with him. Just because a man is nice to a woman doesn’t mean he wants to sleep with her. I don’t know why Trish feels like she needs a man in her life. Dinner will be interesting.

The mother of the pizza delivery man, who police think may have been murdered by Evan Ebel, works for the company that holds my contract. An email was sent out alerting workers to the woman’s loss. There are several thousand people working in the building. I don’t know the woman but I am saddened by the tragic circumstances of her loss.

Jesse gave me one of his sculptures. I think Jesse, and his wife, Deb, are trying to cheer me up. It’s like a sorry your relationship ended gift. I wonder if there is a gift registry at Crate and Barrel for such occasions.

Jackie has been on back to back shoots for the last week. She hasn’t had time to post the pictures of our Friday night adventure to her website. Jackie’s business is seeing a sudden burst in client requests which is welcomed after a two year lull.

Aaron and I have tentative dinner plans on Saturday night. The snow may interfere with our plans since he lives about twenty five miles north. I like spending time with Aaron. He’s an interesting guy who can carry on a conversation on almost any topic.

I talked to Sam on Monday. As usual, San steered the conversation to the guys he’s chatting with online. It’s all he wants to talk about. He’s turning seventy one in a few months. There’s got to be more to life than searching for dick online. At least I hope there is.

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Same Story Different Day

K was supposed to come to Denver tonight but he told me a few days ago that he postponed the trip until the beginning of April. I think this is the third time he has pushed out returning to Denver. It’s the same excuse as the other times. I’m tired of it. I want to agree on a plan for splitting up and move on with my life.

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Margaritas And Clear Heels

I was on top of the world on Friday night. I had so much fun touring the art galleries with Jackie. Saturday was a typical weekend filled with errands, yard work and dinner with Trish at a mediocre Italian restaurant on South Broadway. I was home before nine.

I woke up Sunday morning feeling blue. The photo shoot was cancelled due to an unfortunate set of circumstances at the court building. I can’t go into details but it’s a serious matter and Jackie has called in her lawyer and her business insurance company. I sure it will all be worked out but in the meantime it’s a tense situation for Jackie.

With the shoot being cancelled I was left with no plans for Sunday. I had breakfast, showered and got dressed. I decided to pick up a few things from the grocery store. Mike pulled into the driveway as the garage door was opening. He invited me to go to brunch and run an errand or two. I agreed to go as long as Mike put the top up on his BMW as I was not wearing sun screen and always want to minimize my sun expose in order to avoid another bout of skin cancer.

At brunch I told Mike I was having a sad day. He made it his mission to try to cheer me up. Mike wanted to order tequila shots. I begged off the tequila shots as it was before noon and visions of Helena doing shots flashed in my mind. I had a nice chat with Mike at brunch. It felt good to be out of the house around people.

After brunch Mike wanted to stop by Target to pick up a few things and to check out the hot DILFs that can usually be found there on the weekends. I think this was his way of trying to cheer me up. After checking out the guys at Target and dropping a hundred bucks, Mike dropped me off. He convinced me to accompany him to the Wrangler beer bust later in the afternoon. I agreed to go but needed to spend some time on garden clean up.

I walked around the corner to Mike’s house around four. On the way to the Wrangler we drove by Shotgun Willies. The strippers were outside having a carwash. It must have been a slow day on the pole. I was amused at the sight of the strippers washing cars with their huge boobs squeezed into tiny bikini tops while teetering on six inch platform shoes with clear heels.

There was a festive crowd at the Wrangler. We opted out of the all you can drink beer and decided to have margaritas instead. The drinks were so strong they could have been used to strip the varnish off the bar. We stayed at the Wrangler for about an hour then decided to go back to Mike’s for corned beef and cabbage. There was a line of guys halfway down the block waiting to get in when we left. I’m sure it would have been a festive evening at the bar but we were hungry and had a good buzz going from the über strong margaritas.

After dinner with Mike and Chris I came home and watched the Amazing Race. I went to bed early and read for a while before drifting off to sleep.

It’s now Monday morning and I’m back in the grind of the work week. K will be back in Denver Thursday evening. It will be time to finish the relationship exit plan. More to come….

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An Unexpected Adventure

Jackie and I met at 6th and Broadway for a quick dinner at Chipotle before Nancy’s memorial service, which was scheduled to start at six. After dinner we jumped into Jackie’s Mini and headed over to 20th and Market. Traffic was stop and go because it was Friday evening and people were already celebrating St. Patrick’s Day at the bars and restaurants downtown. We were worried about arriving a few minutes late but it didn’t matter as cocktails and appetizers were served before the service. The service was hosted by, Rick, the owner of the graphic design business who was one of Nancy’s long-time friends. The building was a small warehouse that housed both a residence and the business. Rick was a pleasant and inspiring man who immediately made us feel welcomed and at home even though we never met. He showed us the first portfolio that Nancy created for him. It was a work of art. Jackie and I were able to walk around and were awed by creativity of past and present projects. The business was crammed with art and objects. It was a cross between hoarders and an art college. Even the bathroom was filled with art and awards. Jackie took a ton of photos with her iPhone. The crowd was having a great time. People were smiling and laughing as stories were told about Nancy. Who knew a memorial service could be so much fun?

The memorial service was a celebration of Nancy’s incredible talent and her zest for life. Never mind that the last three years of her life were spent battling brain cancer. Nancy had an inspiring life and influenced everyone she met. The music was soothing and relaxing, the booze was flowing and the food was fantastic. The food was catered by a drop dead gorgeous man who just happened to be the caterer all of Jackie’s family events.

The formal part of the presentation was kicked off by a Unitarian minister whose remarks were brief but touching. Nancy sister followed the minister with stories of Nancy that only a sister could tell. We left before the formal presentation ended so we could start our art tour.

While walking back to the car Jackie snapped a few shots of a construction project and the crane towering over the site. She got some great shots in the evening sky. Spending the evening with an architectural photographer means frequent stops when a good shot presents itself.

We started our art gallery tour with a stop at Ice Cube in RINO followed by stops at Next, Pirate, Zip37 and Edge over in the Navajo Arts District. Jackie was snapping pictures with her iPhone the whole time. We saw an awesome light installation by Collin Parson at Pirate. Jackie and Collin traded business cards so they can collaborate on a future project. At Edge, Jackie did an impromptu photo shoot of artist, Mark Brasuell, using his hoodoo inspired paintings as a backdrop. Zip37 had a new show up that incorporated books in the artworks. How appropriate to find book inspired artwork after attending a bookbinder’s memorial service.

Jackie had scheduled a shoot for early Saturday morning so we called it a night around nine. What I expected to be a rather sad night turned into an unexpected adventure that included a memorial service and an impromptu photo shoot. I was saved from spending another Friday night alone in front of the TV. I’m looking forward to the shoot on Sunday.

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