Ferragosto Picnic at Great Falls Park

Today we attended the Ferragosto picnic. Ferragosto is an Italian holiday celebrated every year on August 15 because this is the day that Catholics believe that Mary, Jesus' mother, was brought up to heaven, still alive and in her body. But during Ancient Roman times, this date was also celebrated to honor the Goddess Diana. The holiday takes its name, in fact, from the ancient Roman name of Feriae Augusti. Most Italians take the whole month of August as vacation, except for essential personnel (and some of them disappear too!). The cities empty out, many stores stay closed, and everyone flocks to the beaches and the mountains, both prime vacation spots in Italy, which is both mountainous and full of beautiful beaches.

Here in the States, of course, many of us work way too hard and hardly take any time off from work. So a couple of local guys took it upon themselves to have a Ferragosto picnic last year and this year. Last year there were more people; this year it was sparsely attended, as you can see. However, you can see what a beautiful place Great Falls park is. Ivana and I brought our dog and our Italian friend Yvette. Our dog loved being at the park as he usually does when he's surrounded by the wonderful smells of nature, the stinkier the better!



More photos. Click on each to make it BIG.

Dinner with Old Friends

For lunch we had seen David and his family. David and I used to work at USI in the mid-90s. I also worked there obviously with others and, for those who know me, I obviously also made other friends besides David (because I'm a friendly guy...also humble!).

Two others of my very good friends from that time are Joel and Norman. From that time, we three and our families have met often, as often as we've been able, usually in one of our homes. Tonight, though, we had decided to dine at Mailbu Grill, a restaurant patterned after the Brazilian style of bringing meat to your table on a skewer and putting it on your plate. When you want meat, you turn a peg on your table so that the green side is up (see it on the table in the first photograph?). When you've had enough for now, you turn it so that the red part is up.

Norman and Myrel's two boys, Ben and Noah, are growing fast. Both are such happy boys! That must have something to do with their parents...you think?

As usual when we get together, we talk about EVERYTHING...work issues, politics, work, politics...is there anything else in life? Oh, of course there is and we talk about those things too.

So today was a reunion of USIers...David and his family at lunch and Norman and Joel and families at dinner.

I am so lucky to have such good friends! And they are so lucky to have to have Ivana and me as friends...such humble, humble friends.

Lunch with Old Friends

Today Ivana and I met with our friends David and Norah and their beautiful family. David and I used to work together at Universal Systems Inc. back in the mid-90s, after which it became Integic and then part of Northrop Grumman.

While we've seen David on occasion in the last few years, including at my parties and as part of business meetings, we had not seen Norah in about 10 years! At the time, Leilani, their oldest, was just a baby and there were no other children. Now they have four gorgeous kids, each with a distinct and wonderful personality. The day was warm and really nice, the food was delicious and best of all was the company. Meeting David and Norah's kids and seeing Norah again and knowing David as we do, we are convinced that we will be getting together a lot more often!


















My goodness, look at that smile!!!

Meetups Are Great!

One of the best websites around is www.meetup.com because it's one of those rare sites that actually tries to get you away from your computer. The concept is simple: type in your zip code and your area of interest (knitting, nuclear physics, Italian) and a list of meetups covering that topic in your area will be listed, if any exist. In most any big town, yes, there will be meetups covering your topic, no matter how unique. I joined about a year ago to join up with other Italian speakers and have made a lot of friends through this organization. The cost is next-to-nothing, usually a couple of bucks thrown in the kitty to help the organizer of the meetup you're attending pay the website fee. Typically the meetups happen in restaurants, Starbucks, or occasionally in someone's home. It's not a dating service, but can you think of an easier place (if you're single) to find someone who shares an interest of yours than at a meetup specifically set up to address that interest?

I'm sold on the idea of meetups. In fact, I took over a local Italian meetup after the previous organizer moved and our meetup starts in 20 minutes. Oops, I'd better get going!!

I feel pretty...oh so pretty...

So I had a meal in a nice Chinese restaurant the other day. When they brought the fortune cookies to the table, I opened mine and got the "fortune" you see here..."You look pretty"...so here's my question: what is going on here? I thought fortune cookies were supposed to tell you your fortune, not state the obvious! All I have to do is look in the mirror to see just how damned pretty I am. I don't need some guy in Shanghai to have put this message in a cookie and send it my way.

Next time, I hope not to get another obvious true statement like "You are very smart." or "You have dreamy eyes." or "You are the end-all and be-all of humankind." Give me my fortune! Tell me something I don't know!

Oh, look, on the other side are some lottery numbers. Cool! I'm going to be rich!

Letter to Washington Post Magazine

Last week the Washington Post Sunday Magazine started a new feature called Second Glance which is just a new take, using Photoshop, on the old "spot the differences" idea. I enjoy these kinds of puzzles. This week's was hard, though! So I sent a letter to the magazine editor this morning:

I am enjoying the new Second Glance page in the Washington Post magazine but I object to the new technology you must be using. How is it that I can look at a part of the bottom photograph and, when I look at it the same exact spot of the bottom photograph a few seconds later, it has changed? Whatever technology you are using to constantly change the minutiae of the photograph is remarkable but unfair. How are we supposed to keep track when the photographs themselves are morphing? Please don't blame my 47-year-old eyes; it has to be some new breakthrough in printing that allows for this level of difficulty! You guys are sadistic!

Star Wars in DC, Weapons at the Ready, Pre-9/11

It was April, 2001, and the Smithsonian Institution held a Star Wars exhibit in one of their museums on the Mall, that stretch of land between the Capitol Building and the Lincoln Center. See the map, copied from the Smithsonian site. To help promote the exhibit, there were costumed characters outside the museum, including Storm Troopers brandishing (fake) weapons. They were stopping traffic, questioning drivers and waving them on. I wonder if they would be allowed to walk around with weapons, fake or not, in our post-9/11 world. Probably not, and that's just a shame.

My Other Blog

This is my personal blog. I also have started a separate professional blog for those who know me more as an e-learning guru. It has my musings and observations of the e-learning industry. Take a look here: www.elearningdeveloper.blogspot.com.

Last Day in Colorado Springs

On the beautiful last day here in Colorado Springs, a fire alarm made us all evacuate the building. I took the opportunity to have my picture taken with Jeff and Susan Rhodes, the fine folks running TBCON. It's a great deal and they do a great job every year!

A Dinner Among Friends

Tonight I had dinner with Marc Lee and Steve Gannon at the Blue Star restaurant here in Colorado Springs. Both are very experienced e-learning developers and freelancers who live here in Colorado. I know both by reputation and I've met Steve at previous conferences. We had a very lively and informative conversation over a really good dinner.

Trading war stories from our industry was a lot of fun but we also found ourselves sharing ideas on how to survive and thrive more in this crazy world we call e-learning. Great guys!

This painting was in the restaurant directly in my field of vision and I found it very interesting. It has perspective, it has elements that keep you guessing. What is the couple saying or doing? Are they parting ways? Are they about to dance? Overall, interesting.

Harry Potter and I are still in Colorado Springs

It's my second day teaching in Colorado Springs at TBCON and I just finished teaching today's session. I have two more tomorrow. I spoke on When Things Go Horribly Wrong - How to Save Your e-Learning Project today. It was well received. I also demonstrated a product called Captivate 3, which was just released. It also made attendees jaws drop!

Sunday evening after I arrived I had dinner with my friend April Miller. We ate at Jose Muldoons, a local Mexican restaurant that was pretty doggone good. She asked me if I was reading the last Harry Potter book and I confirmed that I was. She had already finished it and I was only halfway through and she was dying to discuss it with me but was a good friend and didn't spoil it for me. I finished it this morning and really enjoyed this book. I think it was the best of the bunch but I tend to read fast so I'm not sure I remember how much I liked each prior book, just that I enjoyed them all. Next time I get to talk with April, we can talk Harry and compare notes!

I'm in Colorado Springs

I arrived here yesterday to attend and teach at a conference (TBCON) for three days. Tonight, I drove up to Old Colorado City nearby and saw a great lightning storm in the distance. I happened to catch a lightning bolt with my camera!

At one point it started to pour but it was short-lived. The sky looked amazing, though, especially with the mountains in the background.

I also came here last year. You can see photos I took of the Garden of the Gods, Manitou Springs, and other areas by clicking HERE. There is some glorious landscape around here. Take a look for yourself!