#50 20 slides+15 seconds+1 idea = Ignite

I know, you are already confused aren't you?  Let me explain.  50 is week # 50 of my "52 new things in a year".  Ok, we're straight on that. 

20 slides + 15 seconds + 1 idea = Ignite? 

What???  Yes, Ignite.  Ignite Birmingham to be exact. 

A little background to simplify things and I'm gonna cheat and paraphrase straight from the Ignite website. 

Ignite - "Fast-paced, fun, thought-provoking, social, local, global.....it's a high-energy evening of 5-minute talks by people who have an idea—and the guts to get onstage and share it."

How it all began - "Ignite got its start in Seattle December 2006, as a personal project of O'Reilly Media, Inc's Brady Forrest and Bre Pettis. They dreamed up an event where people could share their ideas over beer and on December 7, two hundred Seattle geeks looking for "a fun night of geekery and networking" squeezed into a bar on Capitol Hill.  25 intrepid locals took a turn on the stage for their five-minute Ignite talks. The consensus was that it was a blast. Word got out, and other communities wanted Ignite in their cities. Brady and Bre turned the event over to O'Reilly, and now nearly 200 Ignites have been held."

That brings me to Ignite Birmingham.  I found the event online and thought that sounds fun and the tickets were free.  Now free is good in my book.  So I clicked and registered for the event to be held at Matthews Bar and Grill on August 16. 

When the day arrived and I made my way down to Matthews for the 6pm start time.  The first 30 minutes were a mix and mingle with a few free hors d'oeuvres.  I grabbed a beer, a good seat and got ready for the show.  I had no idea what to expect but I had never done it before so it qualifies for my 52. 

What an interesting and amazing event.  There were a total of 12 presentations and the first guy up gave a creative presentation encouraging voter turn-out by asking each of us to "adopt a voter".  It was thought provoking and a good idea. 

Everything from "How the Internet Works" (this was fascinating) to the tongue in cheek presentation of "The Relevance of Beverly Hills 90210 in a Postmodern Landscape"  (this presenter reminded us that this year will bring holds the day of 90210 - yeah, that's right Sept 2, 2010).  

Then there was a guy in a skirt (seriously - a skirt) but he was a super big guy - bouncer type so no one was making fun of him.  He took on the first the night's two Ignite Karaoke segments.  With Ignite Karaoke is :"The Stage is yours. The Slides are not!"  Sort of an improve Ignite with 20 slides.  The first slide is the subject and then you create a story as you go, seeing each slide for the first time.  Both of the Karaoke segments were hilarious - and took courage no less. 

All in all a terrific evening.  Got me thinking...is there something I'm passionate enough about to get up on stage and breeze through 20 slides in 5 minutes?  And could I possibly still have the audience with me at the end.  Maybe so.  I'm thinking about it.  Or maybe I could be up for a Karoke (those are 'first come first serve' so to speak).  The question is will I or won't I?

Guess you'll just have to come to

Ignite Birmingham #3

When: Possible date in Early November
Where:TBA
Tickets: TBA
Submissions:Open September 1!  

to find out.  See ya there!

51 My Alternative to Walmart Greeter

Part of my job this week was to work at "Cocktails In The Gardens".  What pray tell is CITG?  A fundraiser the Birmingham Botanical Gardens host 3 times (August, September and October).  You know ...get them there, give them a little food, liquor them up and they will give.  Works every time.  And it usually does. 

Example - a few years back my church held a "Ministry Fair", booths displaying their 'wares' giving you the opportunity to see how you fit in.  It's a terrific idea especially if you serve a little beer and wine.   OK, now you are really, really confused...church - beer/wine - can it be???   Yes of course if you are Episcopalian   ....alias another blog indeed. 

Well my point is, I had a couple of glasses of wine and by the end of the night I had signed  up to:

1. Sing in the choir
2. Volunteer with youth
3. Read scripture on Sunday morning (at least once a quarter)
4. Join a women's Sunday School class (which also met at the same time as choir - which also sang at the same time as reading)
5. And lastly - Be on the hospitality committee

What the heck....all because 2 glasses of wine.  Yep - that's the way it works.  And this is a true story!  (I ended up singing in the choir and reading.  Later I did youth and hospitality  - it works).

The Botanical Gardens knows what every non-profit fund knows......Food+Beer+Wine=Giving!

So, the main feature of this CITG is guess what..............the BAR!  Right of course, the BAR.  So where did our sales team get strategically placed - yes of course, the BAR.  Because the best way to sell a lot of drinks is to get a bunch of gabby sales people yakking it up with these poor people They will buy drinks (even non-alcoholic) just to break free of the incessant cheerful chatter.

It's 100 degrees and at least 90% humidity (yes, ti's the south I know - but we get tired of it too) and it's only 5pm.  The sun has 3 more good hours to shine it's heart out - until then I'm gonna 'sweat like a pig'..... oops I mean glow like any sweet southern Sista of the Ya-Ya's or what the hell ever!

Now I'm no dummy, I donned a hat for this thing....my mama taught me a long time ago, wear a hat and you'll be cooler (daddy knew this too).  It works, truly it does.  But I'm still one hot (glowin') mama. 

I get strategically placed between beer and wine - ahhh yes....they knew didn't they!  We're serving up a local brew by  Back Forty Beer Co. You got your Naked Pig Pale Ale  ( who doesn't like to say Naked Pig) and Truck Stop Brown Ale.  Now I can pour a good beer - it was a side hobby in college and fun to hit the tap again - I proudly fill the cup right up to the rim with the appropriate amount of head.

Then on to wine.....a nice Willamette Valley Pinot Gris and Castle Rock Pinot Noir.  We're good to go on wine as well. 

So it's blue tickets for wine and white for beer.  I've got it so....bring on the customers.  And then whoosh here they come.  And boy did them come.  Chicks in "garden party' (use your best southern accent here) dresses and 5 inch heels (what were they thinking....we're in dirt, dust, gravel) - and they look lovely 'sweatin' like pigs'  - I mean with their glowin' skin. 

Then there are the prep boys......impressing these lovely 'glowin' ladies.  Decked out in Polo shirts and Docksiders with perfect haircuts.  Then there is the occasional guy that came from work with the dress shirt and tie.  LOSE the tie....we're at a cocktail party in the 100+ degree heat.....no one and I mean NO ONE is impressed. 

And then the gays!!!  My favorite for sure because they will chat it up like no body's business and I mean 'bring it on'.  These are my people.  I truly love gay men and have since my first encoounters at theatre in college.  They are wonderful, have great taste, fun, look adorable, are polite and one of them will probably be the first in the Lily Pad pond.

Bottom line....we served $4000 in beverages (at $4 or $5 bucks a pop) in 3 hours.  'We wuz some busy southern bees.'  But oh my - what a blast.  I was non-stop busy but still had time to pour a perfect beer, a full glass of wine, take the ticket and of course 'chat 'em up'.  They were  even generous enough to give $300+ to our "Tips for Charity" for GIVE KIDS THE WORLD  our hotel charity.

But what is the point of this story?  OK, I did something new (remember the 52 - one new thing a week) and definitely found my retirement job!  Bartender.  Yep, I'm good at it, liked it a lot and it will sure as hell beat being a Walmart Greeter.

Looking forward to the next two CITG events.  September and October.  If you live in Birmingham....check it out....great event.  And maybe you'll get to hear me say................

"So what-al-it-be?  A Naked Pig or a Truck Stop Brown Ale"? 

See ya there! 

52 And Counting! And it isn't just age!

I was recently blessed with the company of dear friends visiting from Colorado.  The husband in this couple (Louie) and I go way (way) back. He's the kind of friend you 'hang your hat on' so to speak.  He's there, he's always there, he wants and intends to be there and he's not going away.  Thank you Louie for that kind of friendship.  And his wife, whom I adore and had the pleasure of meeting much later in my friendship with Louie, is a lovely lady and someone I know will be around till friendships die (literally).

They are people I greatly admire and esteem and really have fun creative ideas about living life.  One thing he mentioned while they were visiting is they are currently living out what I will call "The 52".  "The 52"?, I bet you are thinking.....  Well, let me explain.  Take on the challenge of doing one 'new' thing every week.  Yep, that would add up to 52. 52 new things to experience in one year.
He gave no details, no guidance, no rules.....so I thought, how great.....52 new things in one year.  I'm sure I already doing that....but am I doing it with INTENTION....thus back to the point of my blog..."Living with Intention".  Or as I see it....paying ATTENTION to life.  And wait, I'm 52 this year...what a beautiful year to really start living intentionally with my own personal 52!!!

Ok, that sounds damn good to me. So here we go.

52.  Poetry Slam

 

Now, I've never been to a true Poetry Slam or even a poetry reading for that matter and yes that's the true intention of a Year of Living......Intentionally!  Experiencing NEW and DIFFERENT things.

Wow, I was blown away.  Now I'm an artsy gal.  I have a degree in Theatre (not that, that really means a lot) but I love all things creative.  I truly think. up till tonight. I thought poetry was memorized in elementary school and read at Presidential Inaugurations.  I didn't realize it lives, 'day to day'!

Guess the Hell What...it lives day to day - really!  In the lives of so many people....of every shape, age, color, class, well you get my drift.  Bottom line...............................I was blown away!  What a great way to start my 52.

So many folks from all walks of life are jotting these lines of truth, "their truth" down on slips of paper, scraps, beautiful journals, note books lugged everywhere and yes, even just in their brains (maybe they aren't 52 years old yet........)

First the shy African American teenage girl that read a poem about trust - indicating she wants the people in her life to Trust Her.....to the young white lady who confessed to having spent 11 months in the building "next door" which is the Justice Center (jail for those of us not familiar with the term Justice Center).  She spoke of living with prostitutes and addicts and then her own confessions of being addict too.  One line in her poem..."in bondage, yet still debating"  really spoke to me even though I don't battle a substance addiction.  Don't we all do that in some walk of life...."in bondage, yet still debating"....how truthful!

The poems went on and on and each beautiful, gut wrenching, honest (how can they be so honest and vulnerable in front of all of us) to humorous, to sad, to redemptive to determined.  Like the amazingly attractive African American woman fighting day to day with the reality of Sickle Cell Anemia (and I even thought now that's a chronic illness I haven't hear a lot about lately) and that was her point!  People still have this disease....they still get diagnosed and fight day after day...yet do we ever hear about it?  See it in the news?  Supports 'walks'....I could go on and on.  But my own experience is no, I never hear about it.  Her question was, why?  And I had to think about that....why is that?  Does that disease not matter?  It stopped me in my tracks!

The bottom line is, I experienced something I had never done before - a real reading of original poetry and I was lifted up.  Inspired....it made me appreciate these young, old, black, white....etc.....people that can simply record their thoughts and their feelings and expose them for all of us to hear and judge...yes, let's face it...we judge daily what we hear. 

And my judgement for today is I am inspired by your honesty and I want to live that kind of life myself.  Honest, true, open, exposed, raw, sometimes ugly, but then again beautiful and always with the best of intentions!

I'm in!  Can't wait for # 51.  I invite you to join me on this journey!  Find your own 52 and feel free to check in on mine as well!

For more information on Sickle Cell Anemia

Sickle Cell Info

Sickle Cell Disease Association of America

CDC - Sickle Cell Disease (SCD)

For more information on poetry

Poetry Info

Poetry Slam