I ran into Peter on one of my Friday night treks through the galleries a few weeks ago. Peter is a local artist whose work can be show stopping. He gave me his card and invited me to come to studio to see his new works. I’m wondering if my favorite mom of three boys would want to come along. I haven’t seen her for a while so I think it would be fun to meet up. She recently started painting again so perhaps she would welcome some inspiration. Do you think her husband would give her a pass for a few hours on the weekend?
Archive for August, 2014
It Could Be Fun
Posted in friends, my life on August 31, 2014| 4 Comments »
Things Are Looking Up
Posted in my life, work on August 29, 2014| 3 Comments »
I had a meeting with Chatty Cathy yesterday. I usually don’t interact with him since I mostly work from home. Chatty Cathy has climbed a few rungs up the corporate latter in the last two years making him more influential. The meeting went well. It was mostly a monologue with me on the listening end. Chatty told me some things he shouldn’t have then asked me to keep the conversation confidential. Chatty has a habit of not being able to keep confidential information confidential. I expressed my concern about the company moving contract positions to India in the last few months given that my contract expires at the end of September. Chatty wants to know if my contract gets cancelled. He thinks I’m a valuable asset that the company can’t afford to lose. Chatty told me he would hire me as a software engineer for his team even though I don’t know how to write code. Chatty would assign me to a special testing project that he would control. Chatty doesn’t like having offshore testers in India as the company tried it before and it didn’t work very well. The offshore testers in India tend to jump from company to company looking for a better gig and building resume credits at the same time. Chatty also said he would consider offering me an analyst position which would be a significant pay increase.
The meeting made me feel a little better about my pending contract renewal. It’s also good to know that Chatty wants to keep me around and other opportunities are available. I’ve got a cushy gig even though, at times, it’s a bit trying. I would hate to see it end.
Dinner With A View
Posted in friends, my life on August 27, 2014| 3 Comments »
The highlight of the past weekend was being Cindi’s plus one at an event industry dinner on Sunday at the Cherokee Ranch. The 3,000 plus acre ranch nestled in the foothills between Castle Pines and Sedalia has a conservation easement protecting it from development. A farm to table dinner was severed under a tented pavilion high on hill with a stunning view of the valley below and the mountains of the Front Range in the distance. Cindi provided the event décor so we arrived early to make final adjustments before setting out the floral centerpieces. Cindi gave me a short tour of the property around the pavilion before dinner since she’s been there many times. The four-course meal was sourced from Colorado vendors with the beef tenderloin served in the third course coming from the ranch’s free range herd.
The dinner setting was magical. The downtown skyline could be seen in the distance. Native prairie grasses waved in the gentle breeze creating a moving patch work of blue, gold and green. Small conifers, scrub oaks and cactus lined the edge of the hill just before it dropped steeply into the valley. Evening clouds back lit by the setting sun created an abstract houndstooth pattern in the evening sky. Cindi networked with her fellow industry professionals while I sat taking in the view.
This is one of the reasons I’ve stayed in Colorado. There are places here that are absolutely jaw-dropping beautiful. I often get caught up in urban living and forget that beautiful scenery is less than thirty minutes away. I need to take more trips to the high country.
I’ll Never Know Why
Posted in family, my life on August 25, 2014| 3 Comments »
I met Mike and Chris at WD’s memorial service which was held at his house. Attendees were family, friends and neighbors. His small house was uniquely furnished. The mix of old and new could have been lifted out of the pages of a design magazine. The garden was a study in color, pattern and texture. WD was a talented and artistic man. I looked around the crowd of people gathered in the beautiful garden during the short prayer service and couldn’t help wonder why WD didn’t reach out to someone for help. I’ll never know why.
I stayed at the service for about an hour before heading home to change clothes and meet up with Fritz for a fund raising event at Ink Lounge. We hung out with the hipsters for a while before deciding to seek out Mexican food for an early dinner. Our search ended at La Pasadita where we had an enjoyable dinner on the patio. Fritz is always in an upbeat mood so he was a pleasant diversion from the sadness of the afternoon. The evening ended after dinner. After a soak in the tub I hit the sheets for a good night of sleep aided by a little bit of gin and Ambien.
The Usual Friday Night
Posted in art, friends, my life on August 23, 2014| 2 Comments »
I hit the galleries last night after dinner. My first stop was Gildar on South Broadway. It’s a newer gallery that is making its mark on the local art scene. Last night’s opening didn’t thrill me so I headed over to the Core opening on Santa Fe.
I was surprised to find Meg Ingram and Rebekah Robinson featured in the Core show. Rebekah had wonderful small scale paintings of Paris and Versailles. My favorite piece featured Marie Antoinette’s Petit Palace. It brought back memories of the trek to Versailles on my last trip to Paris with K, Cindi and Judy.
I ran into Kate at Core. I hadn’t seen her since the Cherry Creek Art Festival. We had a nice talk before she left to go grocery shopping. I’m looking forward to seeing her next show at Spark in October.
Shelley Hull was showing spectacular paintings in the Core Annex. Her landscapes of New Mexico and Joshua Tree were the best works I saw all night. I may have to go back for second look.
I was about to leave when I ran into Katherine who I hadn’t seen for a few years. Katherine used to be a fashion writer before becoming an art consultant. She had been a fixture on the local art scene for many years. Katherine just moved back to Denver from Buenos Aires. We chatted about Shelley’s work before Katherine asked me to go gallery hopping sometime. She said I had a great eye and would like to hit some galleries together. I gave her my contact info before racing over the Zip37 for the Louis Recchia opening.
I’ve always liked Recchia’s work which is whimsical and fun with a colorful palate. The show was great. I talked with Jessica who is a regular at the gallery openings. Jessica recommended seeing the Denver Modernism Show at the National Western Complex. I also ran into Jean and Bob who had stopped by the gallery after taking in the Modernism show. They said the Modernism show is a must see event. Bob and Jean talked about their upcoming trip to Spain and Portugal. The gallery was about to close so I bid adieu and headed home.
It turned out to be a great night. Even though I was flying solo I ran into friends which made it an enjoyable night. I wanted to have a fun night since WD’s memorial service is on Saturday. I’m not sure how the rest of the weekend will go.
Houston, We Have A Problem!
Posted in my life, work on August 22, 2014| 3 Comments »
I thought it was going to be an easy Friday. I had a few simple projects to bang out and new engineer rules to review. Then another product was pulled from the launch eight hours before go live. My day turned into a cluster fuck headed straight to hell on a rocket ship. I’m looking forward to logging off, hitting the gym and having fun tonight.
The Clown Circus
Posted in my life, work on August 19, 2014| 4 Comments »
A global new product launch is scheduled to start rolling out Friday night. The launch includes offerings from each product line in the company’s portfolio. All systems have been locked and loaded for a week.
Hell broke loose yesterday when products started to get pulled from the launch. One product doesn’t have a manufacturing facility ready for production. Another product line’s software licensing needs to be restructured. Yet another has too many issues uncovered in beta testing to go live. All of the products have to be backed out of the launch. Code has to be changed and tested. Design, ordering and billing systems have to be tweaked by Friday.
It’s hard to believe things are so out of control. How can you be less than a week from a launch and not have a manufacturing process in place? The product should have been pulled at least a month ago. I’m beginning to think the company is being run by a clown circus.
On the bright side, Aaron scored free tickets to the Gypsy Kings concert at the Botanic Gardens tonight. I’ve never seen them so it should be fun.
Looking For Relief
Posted in my life on August 15, 2014| 2 Comments »
I find myself counting down the hours left in the work week on Friday afternoon. I’ve been testing multi-media traffic calculations used to appropriately size servers for sophisticated call center applications for the last few days. It’s been driving me crazy but it made me thankful I took calculus in high school. I’ll be hitting the galleries after dinner tonight. I need to escape into the art world as I need a relief from all the craziness going on around the world and differential equations. I’ll be able to get bed early tonight since I will not be bar hopping and watching strippers with guys like last weekend.
Angry Black Bitch
Posted in my life on August 14, 2014| Leave a Comment »
Check out Angry Black Bitch’s post about the Ferguson fiasco:
http://angryblackbitch.blogspot.com/2014/08/meanwhile-in-missouri.html
I Left
Posted in my life on August 13, 2014| Leave a Comment »
I grew up in the city next to Ferguson, MO. My parents still live there. I’m not surprised by the shooting or the rioting. I was taught to stay away from certain neighborhoods because I was white. Racism was common in the area when I lived there. It’s one of the reasons I moved away when I graduated from college. I didn’t want to live in a city that always seemed to be racially divided.
The Corporate Slave 