It may be yet another week following far too short of a weekend, but there’s really no choice but to own up to the Mondays and dig in anyhow. I guess that’s part of why I write this Must Read/See/Hear series — to get over my “Mondays” and start the week with something good for me to share, and hopefully, something good for you to read.

Anyhow, here we go: new things for your enjoyment on a Monday morning.

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MUST READ

One of my favorite online reads is elephantjournal.com, a Boulder, Colo.-based blog, webcast, and general guide to well-being that provides a lot of articles relevant to what founder (and friendly face) Waylon Lewis calls ‘the mindful life’. If you ask me, elephantjournal.com really embodies what living in Boulder is all about: living conscientiously, and sharing that mindset with others.

Although I’m not in Boulder anymore — and I know that I’m pretty vocal about missing it so much — it’s really nice to be able to read about politics, spirituality, health and much more from the Boulder state of mind when I’m all the way out here in California. But the reason that works out so well is that it’s not just  ‘Boulder’ thing to be mindful of one’s lifestyle — it’s something all of us should be concerned about, and it’s relevant no matter where you live. I also follow @elephantjournal on Twitter to keep up with what’s going on.

My favorite pieces lately include posts talks about farmer’s markets and eating in support of sustainability and an older post about slow food vs. vegetarianism. There’s also a fair amount of humor and politics to go around, and I can always get a quick solution to homesickness with the abundance of videos featuring Waylon and the ele-crew enlightening and entertaining the Boulder community.

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MUST SEE

Thanks to elephantjournal.com, in fact, I saw this great segment of Jon Stewart mocking Glenn Beck on the Daily Show. Stewart channels Beck not just for the sake of comedy but because Beck, regardless of political affiliation, deserves to be called out for his absurd theatrics.

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MUST HEAR

“What? Jen, you like Spoon? No way…”

All right, all right. I know. I can’t leave it alone. But Spoon played at SXSW this week and the entire 18-song (!!) set that was aired during a live webcast is now online at NPR.org. It’s just way too good not to share!

If you like rock in any capacity, you’ll definitely like this. If you have never heard Spoon before, it’s a great opportunity to hear why they have such an incredible fan base. And if you love Spoon as much as I do, you can download the set and listen to it anytime!

As of right now, the plan is to pack my things, put most of it into storage, and head west to San Diego.

I didn’t want to be writing this. I was hoping that I’d find something at the last minute. But when I look at my finances and all of my options, it doesn’t make any sense for me to stay.

Am I angry? It varies, but for the most part, yes. While I usually take the stance that I am always lucky to have anything at all, I felt truly jipped this time. I fully intended to stay in Boulder for a while. I love this town, I love this neighborhood, and I love the people around me. I needed several months of a steady job to start paying off bills and for some reason it just wasn’t meant to be.

However, I’m comfortable in Boulder. I think I’m too young to be comfortable here. What happens when a person is too comfortable where they’re at is what happens when people settle for things and become complacent. I’d like to spend the rest of my life in Boulder, but not just yet; I want to explore what else is out there and come back some day. It’ll always be here.

So why San Diego? For one, there are more opportunities for my type of work out there. Also, a lovely friend is helping me out by renting her place out to me, and I’m incredibly grateful. I’ve now got friends there — not a whole lot, but I’m good at making new friends — and there are particular people out there with whom I’d like to spend a whole lot more time.

The last time I left Boulder, I knew I was coming back for school. Now I don’t have any other reason to come back besides the fact that I love this town. I appreciated it a lot more when I left it for a while, and it’ll be that way again.

I might have a night out before I leave. Actually, I’ll definitely have a night out before I leave. I’ll at least be out on the town for Halloween and there will be at least one more trip to the Downer. But I hope I get the chance to say goodbye to everyone, and I’ll try my best to see people before I get out of here.

Is this goodbye, Boulder? Not entirely. Just for a bit.

CU Football Game

Tonight was especially bad. I had a big blowup with the waiter boy (I thought this was over a while ago?!!), and to top it all off, I’m so stressed about money that I nursed a nosebleed for a good hour before I could go swing dancing. I really didn’t need that kind of stress tonight, and like I tend to do during times like this, I started to think about what it would be like to get out of here.

It’s funny that once I think I’ve actually gotten used to things here in Boulder, spats with (ex)boyfriends and money issues and overall happiness issues start popping up, giving rise to yet another of the many plots I’ve created that involve moving away.

There are plenty of reasons I should leave Boulder. Sometimes I feel like I don’t belong. Other times I just think it would be easier to find a job elsewhere. And even more miserably, dating doesn’t come easy in this town. (Ironically, two ex-boyfriends — whom I unfortunately see all over the place in this little berg — actually live in Denver now, but they work up here enough to run into me all the time.)

Sometimes, as I’m falling asleep, I have this incredible fantasy that being the new girl somewhere would bring all these great new things to me, like a decent guy or a new place to hang out with new people, and maybe I’d be happier. I’ll wake up the next day and realize that it’s kind of a naïve hope.

I have great friends here. I have people I care about and people who care about me. But something is missing, and I’m not quite sure what it is; the closest I’ve gotten to knowing is thinking that maybe I will have a better chance at everything elsewhere, and that I don’t get my fair chance here. But that might be giving myself too much credit. Jeez, I don’t know. Maybe I do just need to get out of here.

It would be a good time to get out; I need to find a job, and I need to pay my student loans. It might be easier to move for a job than have to wait for one. But I’m not sure I’d be able to get out so soon. The lease at this house runs out in August, but honestly — my heart belongs in this town. In this neighborhood. I can’t seem to believe that maybe I’m lying to myself about it.

Or maybe I’m just getting anxious because I am graduating soon and there are a lot of decisions to make. Even though I know just the things that would make me happy — you see, I set my heart on things and it’s tough to let go when those things don’t happen — I don’t see those things as happening. I don’t see that one person back in my life, I don’t see my name on that one desk in that one office, and I don’t see being able to live in that one place in that one neighborhood. This process of graduating and moving into a new stage of life is going to take the kind of flexibility and tolerance for a lack of stability that I have never before faced, but it’s going to have to happen at some point.

I’m hoping that Boulder will still be the place for me a few weeks into May. But I know that, up until then, I’ll get that pang to get out of here. For now, I might just have to ignore it. And maybe it’ll fade away by then.

Ignite is a series of presentations in which the slides move every 15 seconds, and the presenter has only so many slides available — it makes for a crazy, fast-paced evening of technology, humor, and all-around fun. This was my second Ignite.

Ben Roberts presenting about the Zombie Apocalypse at Ignite Boulder 3

Ben (whose online moniker is “Ace Harmon,” though I’m not sure Andrew Hyde has picked up on that yet) gave us all the gory details of what humans should do in the event of a zombie apolocalypse. It might’ve taken the audience a little longer than usual to process his brand of humor, but all the better as some of the delayed “duh!” laughs just made the presentation funnier and funnier. “A gentleman does not eat brains and tell!”

It wasn’t long before dearest Ef (whom I’ve nicknamed Puggles) presented “How to Sing Your Way Out of Danger.” I had actually never heard Efrem sing before, though we are the best of friends and have been through plenty of adventures together (especially situations in which he probably should’ve tried singing us out of danger). If it isn’t already self-explanatory, Ef was teaching us how notes and music and lyrics could be combined into a life-saving tool. He brought along his guitar and some nifty tunes, made especially for the Ignite presentation. I must say that I am very happy to have finally heard my Puggles sing, and I hope I get to hear more of it (hopefully outside the context of danger, however).

Ef Rodriguez swoons the crowd with his singing!

The rest of the presentations were indeed wonderful. I’d have to say that Most Original goes to Tim Poindexter‘s “The History of the Mustache,” for which he groomed the most amazing mustache. Tara Anderson and Jeremy Tanner, as the stand-up champions of the Boulder tech community, broke the crowd down to tears of laughter with, respectively, “How to Piss Off People and Lose Friends in Boulder” and “What Business Development Can Learn from the Seduction Community” (oh yes, you’d better believe it!). I met some awesome new people like Brian Shaler (“How to use Twitter for Marketing and PR”) and Vikas Reddy (“Award Rules”). On top of that, I was able to see some of the coolest people I’ve met in Boulder present on things that relate closely to their fields or interests: Jo White used some of her media research to present “Breasts and Media’s Obsession With Them,” Brandon Whalen brought down the house with “How to Make a Rap Song,” and Ingrid Alongi — with the help of some of our friends and acquaintances — showed how the Boulder tech crowd can be resourceful in the face of a bad economy. Jen Mayer‘s presentation about healthy eating (she is just so cute!) opened some eyes and motivated us to create new eating habits while Grant Blakeman and Reid Phillips (of The Autumn Film) asked us “What Would a Crack Dealer Do?” (just check it out, you’ll get it!). If you want to check out some of the other presentations, you can find them at the Ignite Boulder webpage, which includes links to the presentation videos and will include info about the next Ignite.

I’m hoping to submit a topic again this next time, and although I’ve hinted at it with friends, it’s staying on the down-low for now. Needless to say, I’ve been inspired by this incredible crowd and I would be humbled to get to join the ranks of these guys in the next Ignite. Boulder has truly set the bar for Ignite, and I dare anyone else to beat it!

But an event coming up in January promises to be one for the ladies: Chicks Who Click.

I’m hoping I’ll nab a chance to go — partially in telling you all about it — but I’m also hoping that this isn’t the only opportunity for web-savvy, social media-interested women to get together through some fun activities, great talks and novel concepts under the Flatirons. I know it hasn’t even happened yet, but the success I’m sure it will be will be enough reason to do it again!

If I get a chance to participate, of course I’ll be blogging about it. If not, I’ll be eagerly awaiting what the attendees have to say about it!

Happy Clicking!

When I stopped in the restroom while my brother got his appeals form, I accidentally left my wallet in there. I didn’t realize it until I got home because I usually carry a bag. I called the receptionist and asked whether or not there was a wallet turned in, and she told me she would transfer me to Lost and Found, but I clarified for her that I’d just lost it a few minutes ago in the building so maybe it would be possible for her to check. She said that no, she hadn’t seen a wallet, and that I should try Lost and Found.

I drove up there and went down to the Lost and Found department — which is actually downstairs from the parking services office — and they had my wallet. But it was missing $30! Not that $30 is a huge sum, but I just paid for books and I’m going to be paying tuition late since my loan hasn’t arrived yet. And it really sucks to be buying textbooks and be short on cash, too. The woman at the Lost and Found desk asked me if I wanted to file a police report, and while I probably wouldn’t usually want to do that, I ended up doing it anyhow.

The officer who took the report was very nice. I told him that I’m a NightRide driver, I’m working two jobs to get through this last semester, and I was really kicking myself for leaving my wallet in the restroom. He told me that the person who turned it in is an administrative person of some sort; someone whose name I’ve seen, and she wouldn’t have done it. I thanked him for his help, and he gave me a card with the case number on it.

So, I just tried to think about it as some kind of karma. I’ve probably saved money in some areas. Or maybe I’ve gotten something for a really good price and didn’t deserve to pay so little. All righty.

While I was in class, I got a call from the officer telling me that he has my money. “It’s kind of a long story,” he said, “but I’ll tell you when you come pick it up.”

When I got to the police station to pick up my money, he said that he went and talked to the woman who had turned in the wallet. She remembers there being money in it before she turned in the wallet. So the officer talked to the receptionist, a fellow student, and the girl admitted to taking the money out of my wallet. When asked why she did it, she said, “I needed the money.” The officer replied, “Well, the girl you took it from did, too!”

But… $30? In a police station? Did she think she’s the smartest person there?

I thanked the officer graciously, but I told him I didn’t necessarily feel good about this. Not that I should feel good or anything; if you work in a position of trust like that, even if the trust is to a small degree yet requires some responsibility, to just take money out of someone’s wallet when you’re entrusted with it is just stupid. Especially when the consequences to getting $30 for nothing cost more than $30 in the first place.

Unfortunately, after seeing the paperwork, it looks like she’ll probably lose her job. This will probably be something her future employers see, too. They might not even hire her because of it; you can’t just steal from personal property that is entrusted to you. And those hours she was planning on working to get money she needed? Ah, probably not getting those hours.

Word to the wise…

The Conference on World Affairs, or CWA, is largely self-explanatory. It’s a big conference in which hundreds of panels are held regarding world affairs, generally geared towards current trends, namely political and sociological issues. There’s a smattering of technology talks, increasing every year, and a few talks that look back on history in consideration of current trends. There is also something called Interruptus, in which a film is shown in its entirety in the first two-hour session, and is shown over the rest of the week in two-hour sessions except with constant interruptions to discuss the film in-depth. Interruptus was Roger Ebert’s big event, but Mr. Ebert has been ill for the past few years and we miss his presence quite a lot.

CWA is one of my favorite things about attending this school. It’s one of the reasons I couldn’t bear attending another school. I’m sure other schools have equally exciting events, but probably schools I didn’t have interest in attending or to which I paid no attention during my search. It’s certainly one of the most unique things about this university, and it definitely helps maintain the independent-minded climate of this campus as well as the forward-thinking discourse many places seem to lack.

With that, the CWA is still one of the worst-kept yet most popular secrets on this campus. How can that be? It’s because of the fact that so many students have no idea it even exists. In my daily interaction with other students, namely through courses but also through my job, I ask students about the CWA and many of them need an explanation. It’s a pity, because this is primarily for the students. Sure, many retirees clog up the hallways of the University Memorial Center and make is a hassle for a lot of busy students to get on with the week, but without that support, the CWA would be long gone. Not enough students attend the CWA that, if it were solely for students, there would be nothing to celebrate. Therefore the CWA is indeed as much a community event, but only because the event would suffer without its support.

It’s halfway through the CWA week, and I still have plenty to say. I’ve attended many panels so far and have kept up with them on my twitter account, I hope that I see more peers at these talks on the last day — it’ a shame not to take advantage of what a great, free event the university provides us every single year.

Flags in April: the decor for the CWA